


Dolly

by plumeriafairy14



Category: Psycho-Pass, Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe, Crime, Enforcer!Eren, Enforcer!Jean, Enforcer!Levi, Enforcer!Mikasa, F/F, Inspector!Armin, Inspector!Erwin, M/M, Psycho Pass AU, Romance, Yaoi, Yuri, attack on titan - Freeform, shingeki no kyojin - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-02
Updated: 2016-04-30
Packaged: 2018-05-30 16:25:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6431680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plumeriafairy14/pseuds/plumeriafairy14
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Annie Leondhart has a secret…</p><p>She hated pretty things. She had always believed that pretty things should die. But she also loves pretty things and want to keep them to herself, especially when it reminded her of the dolly that took her father away so that they could never hurt anyone again.</p><p>~</p><p>The MWPSB’s Division 10 had been given a task by the top brass to find Historia Reiss, a famous model who went missing. But as they dove deeper into the case, they discover a link to three other unsolved disappearances which all connected to a certain PA named Annie Leondhart. </p><p>With a reckless but classic old-trick-in-the-book plan, Division 10 would have to risk one of their own Inspectors to get close to their insane suspect with hopes that it would lead them to Historia Reiss before it’s too late. Unfortunately, IF Armin Arlert dies in this mission, it would make Enforcer Jean Kirschtein’s unstable Psycho Pass cross the point of no return.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Toy Maker

**Author's Note:**

> HELLO!!! I'm here to present to you a side project for the month of April! In honor of Jean (BABY, ILY!!!) and his birthday month, I came up with this AU between two amazing anime; Attack on Titan and Psycho Pass. The story will run for 5 or 6 chapters depending on the length and if I have to cut a chapter for being too long. I will update this ficlet every weekend for the whole month of April so stay tuned! 
> 
> As for my main fic, Crimson Moon, I'll still try to update it regularly but for this month, this mini fic is priority. 
> 
> A/N:  
> -I don't own any of these characters and universes. Attack on Titan and Psycho Pass belong to Hajime Isayama and Gen Urobuchi respectively.   
> -English is not my first language so I'd like to apologize for grammatical errors.   
> -This fic sails in the JEARMIN ship with ERERI as support and there's some YUMIKURI too.   
> -I interpreted Nanaba and Hanji female in this story despite their unknown genders.   
> -I MIGHT or MIGHT NOT make more AoTxPsychoPass AUs to succeed this fic, but we'll see about that! ;D
> 
> Thank you and I hope you enjoy! Please let me know what you think, I'd love to hear your thoughts! :D

** **

 

* * *

**Chapter I**

**Toy Maker**

_“Daddy,” a little blond girl tugged on the cuff of her father’s sleeve while he carried her in his arms. She pointed at the display window of a toy shop which they passed by that day. “Can you buy me a doll?”_

_“What do you need a doll for, sweetheart?” Her father asked._

_“Because it’s pretty.” The child replied with glee as she pressed her chubby cheeks and her tiny hands against the display glass. “See? Her hair is yellow like mine!”_

_A chuckle. “Well, I think you’re prettier.” A kiss on the girl’s cheek. “In fact, you’re the prettiest girl in the world.”_

_“You’re not tricking me this time, daddy!” the little girl pouted. “Could you buy me a dolly Puh-leeeaaase?”_

_“If you become a good little girl, I will.” The man laughed. With his free hand, he reached up and ruffled the girl’s hair which was pulled up and tied with a silk blue ribbon which was a stark contrast against the gold of her hair._

_“I’ll be a good girl!” her smile was wide even though she was missing a baby tooth that had recently fallen out._

_“Do you promise?” her father asked._

_“I promise!”_

_~_

_Blood was everywhere and smoke obscured her vision. Their car laid burning where it crashed against a tree. Her father was on the ground covered with burns and blood and there were entrails that peaked out from the part of his body that was dragged against the concrete when he placed his daughter in a protective embrace. They were thrown off when the car malfunctioned and skidded off the road._

_“Daddy!” the five year old girl cried. “Wake up!” her tiny, trembling hands shook her lifeless father by the collar. “I said; Wake up! Daddyyyy!”_

_But the man wasn’t moving and his blue eyes were half lidded as they stared into nothingness with the glaze of death over them. The girl said no more and she helplessly stared at her dead father while the air reeked with the smell of burning rubber and flesh. Her blue eyes went to the totalled car which was aflame and spotted the doll her father promised to buy her. The toy melted as the fire engulfed it which threw a foul plastic smell in the air. The doll became gruesome as its glass eyeballs fell out of its melting face and its long blonde hair receded back until its head was a bare and burnt._

_It was all that stupid doll’s fault that’s why her daddy was dead. If they didn’t buy it, her daddy would still be alive._

_And the reason? Because she found it pretty._

_The tears stopped falling from her icy blue eyes and the smile she always wore was snuffed out by the anger she felt in her heart._

_Pretty._

_Pretty._

_Pretty._

_She loved pretty dolls but now she realized that they were bad things that took away her daddy. Pretty things should all die so they don’t have to take other kids’ daddies away from them._

_She loved and hated pretty things…_

_So she will take them and hide them where they couldn’t hurt anyone else._

~

**Twenty years later…**

Combing her fingers through her hair dyed raven black with a streak of icy blue, Annie adjusted the headset around her head. Her ears were starting to get sore from the damned thing and people around her were panicking as they dressed the models quickly in time for their next walk on the runway. However, despite this, Annie remained calm while she handed clothes and pinned fabrics to fit around the bodies of the models she came across. She worked quickly with clever fingers, but she barely said a word.

Annie didn’t care because she only took the PA job to make her cause easier. Models were pretty things after all.

Three. It’s already been three she’s taken to keep the world safe from their evil beauty. First had been by strangulation and it was their class president during high school; a popular strawberry blonde named Petra Ral. Since it was before the time she discovered the preservation process of ‘Plastination’ from an infamous case that was still in the process of being solved by the MWPSB, Annie just killed her because she was just too ‘pretty’ for this world. She then dumped her body inside her gym locker but since Annie had taken precautionary measures, she was never caught. Who would blame a high schooler, right?

Her second victim had been the first of her ‘realism’ collection. It was during college after she learned about the Plastination process and made it a point to study how it was conducted. The girl was her dorm mate, a psychology student who went by the name of Nanaba. The woman had pale blonde hair that was cropped short and pretty pale amber eyes. Her features held a softness in it that _somewhat_ reminded Annie of Eloise, her cursed dolly.

Annie hated it. She despised the fact that her own blonde hair reminded her of that doll which took her dad away and ever since she could remember, she would always dye the yellow locks black. No matter what the cost, even if she had to shoplift in the drug store, she would swiped colored dyes off the shelf just so she could conceal her stupid blonde hair.

Nanaba was easy enough to kill; just a pillow to the face while she was sleeping and suffocation did the rest. She then drove with the body in the trunk of her car. Luckily, Annie’s house was near campus and her late father had left enough money in her name so that she could have something to get her through the beginnings of her adulthood before she even got a proper job. However, since Annie lived alone, she chose to board at school because there was no point in coming home to an empty house anyway.

Cleaning out the corpse was harder than the small animals she practiced Plastination on, but after long hours of labor, Annie was able to finally finish her first handiwork. Nanaba looked so alive with her pale amber eyes opened and a gentle smile lifted on her lips. Annie bought her clothes to dress her up in, dusted her, and had little dinner and tea parties with her just like a child would. She placed her in one of the rooms which she kept under the protection of a state of the art security lock.

Since Nanaba, the need of making human dolls to dress up and play with to her amusement had become an obsession for Annie. She had the urge to make her dolly collection grow and her objective since childhood changed; rid the world off prettiness and keep it to herself so that they don’t have to hurt others and take the ones they love.

Just like her first dolly took her daddy away.

Her third kill had been taken during the first few months after she was hired in the fashion events business. It had been a stuck up model who got on Annie’s nerves. Patience was one trait Annie was able to hone well and she’s able to stay calm and clear minded most the time, but Hitch Dreyse was the first one to make her snap since the day her daddy died. Since Hitch was pretty, that was all the reason Annie needed to plunge a pen knife strategically into the model’s jugular when she managed to invite Hitch out for a cup of coffee at her place.

The bitch didn’t buy it at first, but Annie pulled up a friendly front and promised to tell Hitch juicy gossip about the model’s rival in the industry, Historia Reiss. When Hitch bit the bait and drove to Annie’s house, she never walked out again and stayed there locked in Annie’s toy room to keep Nanaba company forever.

“Annie, the third dress!” one of the fashion designers snapped at her but the woman just stared at him with her icy blue eyes.

“C-Could you hurry? Serena is up next.” The designer tore his eyes away, not being able to hold those empty almost inhuman eyes of hers.

“Here.” Annie shoved the carrying box into the man’s arms. “Anything else? Model number 5 needs assistance. I need to go.”

“This is all.” The designer turned away, not wanting to see the raven haired, blue eyed PA anymore. As he walked off, Annie heard him mutter: “God, she makes my skin crawl.”

Annie was used to being called names like that because everyone did; the social workers, her classmates, her teachers, her neighbors, and even the people at work. She had to take extra precautions to make sure that the sematic street scans don’t pick up her cloudy hue. Annie purposely fingered the thick chrome ring on her finger.

Any normal person would think that it was just a punk fashion accessory but in truth, it threw off the scans and made it look like her hue was normal. It cost her a pretty penny to purchase the masking device in the black market, but since she’s still walked free right now, her money was well spent. However, it only threw off street scans to lie about her hue. It wouldn’t work with advanced ones that actually measured Psycho Passes like the MWPSB’s Dominator.

“The main event is arriving!” one of the floor managers called and Annie looked up from her tablet while she checked the schedule and the order the models who are about to walk the runway.

A petite woman walked in through the double doors; her hair fell into elegant waves past her shoulders and her dainty, porcelain like face were graced with big aquamarine blue eyes, a pert nose, and perfectly bowed lips.

Annie stilled as she stared at the model. She’s seen Historia Reiss before on the news and televised fashion shows but this was the first time that she had seen the model in person. Now she realized how beautiful Historia was with her golden hair and bright blue eyes which reminded her of her doll.

Eloise. The cursed shit that took her father. 

Her fingers dug through the edge of her tablet until she heard an audible crack and the tips of her fingertips bruised;

 Annie needed to have Historia in her collection no matter what the cost.

 

 

 


	2. Hounds and Shepherds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Distant, wild, cold, or broken as they may be, as long as they are still capable of genuine love, they are human.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tomorrow is Jean's birthday!! (In my time zone at least, I believe it's still the 6th on many parts of the western hemisphere). Anyway, I am back for another update to introduce our team of dedicated heroes. In this chapter, Division 10 will be introduced and you'll be able to see the professional and personal relationships they have with each other. 
> 
> Thank you very much for the kudos and the supportive comments you've give in the previous chapter. it makes me glad that many are hyped up about this cross over. So without further ado, here's chapter 2 for your reading pleasure. Please feel free to let me know what you think of this chapter and/or the story so far. See you in the next update!
> 
> *THROWS JEARMIN AND ERERI AT YOU*

**Chapter II**

**Hounds and Shepherds**

**Two weeks later…**

Senior Inspector Erwin Smith of Division 10 was typing a report on his workstation computer when a message came in directly from the chief of the MWPSB. Granite blue eyes hardened while he read the new assignment; it seems that it was a Missing Person’s case and since the victim in question was famous and hailed from an influential family, the task was deemed to be a high priority.

He immediately sent the message to his team’s individual computers and all six workstations beeped at the same time. Four sets of eyes then turned to look at him and Erwin swivelled on his chair to look at them in return before he stood up and crossed his arms over his chest.

“We’re taking this one, sir?” Sky blue eyes widened behind his black rimmed glasses as Junior Inspector Armin Arlert read the report. “What about the Gibson Case?”

“That would have to wait.” Erwin replied. “The head of the Reiss family is the one who personally filed this case. Considering the influence they have in the country, it will put the MWPSB’s image in hot water if we do not prioritize this case or worse, fail in the investigation.”

“Understood.” Armin nodded and marked the case file on his computer with a ‘#1’.

After clicking around, one of the enforcers, a beautiful yet aloof raven haired woman named Mikasa Ackerman, spoke up when she saw the picture of the victim. “I know her.”

“Oh?” Eren Jeager, a brunette man with bright emerald eyes swivelled on his chair to face her. “I never thought that you were interested in fashion.” A grin. “You don’t wear anything but black.”

“It’s a minor hobby.” Mikasa replied without looking at him. Despite being the only among the thorns in the on-field team, Mikasa was lethal with her merciless disposition when face to face with an enemy. Her willingness to kill those who stand in her way came with the package og her 169.5 crime coefficient. “I bought the shoe line she released last season.”

“Was it those strappy floral sandals you wore when the team had a night out?” the third enforcer was a man with sharp, sapphire blue eyes, a permanent scowl on his mouth, and straight jet black hair that was neatly brushed back from his forehead with a neat undercut.

Levi was a short man but underestimating him because of that was the biggest mistake his enemies would always make and it was also mostly the last. With a crime coefficient of 200 which is the highest in Division 10, years of skill in his arsenal as a former inspector, and a mind filled with ruthless intelligence, Levi was not someone to be reckoned with.

“No, that was a bargain deal I got on sale.” The woman typed in some notes before she activated her computer’s photo slideshow screensaver. “They’re the black boots I wore last week.”

“Shoes are shoes, guys. It doesn’t really make any damn difference.” Eren rolled his eyes with disinterest. He then glanced at Erwin. Eren was the loose bullet of the team and the most trigger happy of them all. Despite being one of the youngest next to Armin, his crime coefficient is up to 180.2, being the second highest in Division 10. “Fashion? Really?” he whined.

 “Quit complaining, brat.” Levi muttered. “That’s not going to get the job done.”

“Alright, jeeze, old man.” The younger enforcer pouted like a scolded child.

“Let’s meet in Hanji’s lab in twenty minutes.” The Senior Inspector answered as he grabbed his coat which hung on the back of his office chair. He scanned the room briefly then asked; “Where’s Kirschtein?”

“O-Oh!” Armin glanced at his watch when he, too, noticed. About this time every day, Jean would take a one hour break. “I’ll go look for him. He probably stepped out for a breather.”

Without a second word from his superior, Armin stood up from his chair and placed it back in place against his desk as a mannerism he had picked up from being scolded by Levi and his OCD tendencies.

Erwin was already making his way out of the room followed by Mikasa. After Armin had finished saving his files, he briskly walked past Levi and Eren who were getting ready to leave as well. And as he brushed by Eren, the green-eyed enforcer who was also his best friend, grinned teasingly;

“Better go get your pet, Armin.”

The blonde halted and stilled, not being able to face Eren because his cheeks had flared and tinted with pink.

“F-Fuck off, Eren.” Armin stammered. He rarely cursed, but he still did when he’s trapped. “He’s not…”

“Time’s running.” Levi interrupted before the junior inspector could say more. “You still have to look for Jean.”

“Ah, yes.” Armin nodded vigorously as he quickly glanced at the two and when he did, Eren smiled while Levi remained uninterested. “I’ll meet you at Hanji’s office.” Then he went off and shut the door behind him, leaving Eren and Levi in the room.

After a sigh, Eren cracked his head to the side and started to leave as well. “Man, I just want my day off. I’m so fucking tired.”

But before he could take another step out, Levi grabbed him by the tie and pulled him back, trapping him against the desk and his own body.

“Oi, Levi, what the fuck!” Eren protested but Levi ignored him and quickly flicked up the remote which shut the automatic blinds and activated the lock on the door.

Putting the remote down, Levi tugged Eren closer to him, pressing the other man against the hardness of his body. “What about _my_ pet, hm?”

“We’ll be late!” Eren hissed and tried to struggle, but Levi’s hold on him made it difficult. He only succeeded trapping himself further against the other enforcer. Eren shivered and his breaths came out in shallow huffs when Levi’s other hand went down to caress his chest until his fingers played with his zipper. Without wasting another second of their stolen moment, Levi bent up his knee against the edge of the table between Eren’s legs and leaned up to press his forehead against the younger enforcer’s.

“We can get there in five minutes.” Levi’s lips were dangerously close to Eren’s. Hot air and frisky sexual tension was strong between them. “So give me the other fifteen.”

“You greedy bastard.” Eren smirked and Levi responded by unbuckling Eren’s belt before he slowly pulled down his pants zipper. And with his intense sapphire blue eyes locked with fiery emerald ones, Levi drew Eren’s length out and closed the distance between their lips.

There was nothing else but the glare of the computer screens against the dimness of the room, breathy gasps, soft curses, wet kisses, and their wild blissful release.

~

The metal door gave an audible bang when Armin closed it behind him because of the strong wind blowing down on the MWPSB’s rooftop terrace. The place was empty and the sky was clear against the city scape. Armin walked to the railing and looked over towards the long hundred floor drop to the sidewalk below.

He had never been scared of heights, but Armin’s stomach started to get sour and uneasy from the long drop below so he pushed off and stepped away from the railing. The hairs on his nape stood when he felt a presence watching him from behind but when he turned, there was no one there.

Yep. Jean was here. This is where Jean always retreated for a smoke and be alone with himself during this time of day. Taking careful steps until he stood in the middle of the empty rooftop floor, Armin looked around, his neatly trimmed blonde hair whipping in the loud wind.

Click.

Armin’s head snapped to the direction of the sound and he trailed his eyes up the water tower. A tall man leaned on the railing while he lowered a slim vintage camera from his eyes and his other hand waved a Polaroid back and forth to make the picture appear faster. A half done cigarette hung between his smirking lips and the lighter and longer part of his two toned hair was messed up by the wind over the dark shaved undercut on one side of his head.

“I think I’ll keep this one.” Jean held up the photo between his index and middle fingers after he studied it. He had recently picked up photography as a hobby and he preserved every happy memory or any subject that caught his interest. “You look good here, it’ll go nicely in our album.”

“Jean, get down here!” Armin called from below and the enforcer sighed as he kept the slim camera in the inner pocket of his wrinkles corporate blazer. He killed the cigarette on a metal ashtray attached on the railing before he skilfully slid down the ladder and landed on the same floor as Armin. He made his way towards the inspector, his silk black tie loose over his undone collar as the tail whipped in the wind.

“Hey, angel.” Jean smirked at the blonde as he took Armin’s hand and kissed the back of it. Even with that cool disposition and charisma that made people swoon, Armin knew that it was all a front. The real Jean Kirschtein was a broken man who suffered from periods of recurring depression. His crime coefficient was 175, ranking next to Eren’s and being the third highest in the team.

Levi was the most ruthless enforcer on the team, killing without a second thought. Eren was the wild canon who vented all his frustrations when doing on-field jobs but that anger of his usually clouded his judgement. Eren relied on the guidance of his other teammates, especially Levi, to make clear decisions while Mikasa was the most sane and stable among the enforcers.

But it was Jean who was the one Division 10 kept a careful eye on because he was the most unstable. Eren was predictable, Jean wasn’t. His loyalties were questionable and he was the one most likely to bolt from the force…or himself. The anti-depressants can only do so much, other factors must come into play and that was where Armin came into the equation.

“This is hardly the place, Mr. Kirschtein.” Armin pulled back his hand, flustered. “We have an assignment.”

“What happened to the Gibson case?” Jean asked.

“It’s put on hold because the chief said to place this on top of the list.” Armin replied. “Missing persons, a model named Historia Reiss. The case was filed by her father himself so that just places more pressure on us.”

“Reiss?” Those sharp golden brown eyes widened at Armin’s briefing. “Isn’t that the business tycoon family?”

“Exactly.” Armin replied. “Mikasa appears to be a fan of Historia’s work but that’s about it. We need to look into this before whoever took her decides to add in more victims.” Armin paused and tapped the glass surface of his communicator bracelet to show the time. “Meeting at Hanji’s in ten minutes, well--- nine now.”

“If we take a short cut to the lab,” Jean offered with a slow smile which stretched his angular handsome face. “Would you give me three minutes of your time?”

“For wh—“ Armin wasn’t even able to finish when Jean pulled him by the wrist and locked his other arm around the blonde’s slender waist. Jean then leaned in and pressed his lips against Armin’s in a kiss which lingered for a lovely moment, their tongues caressing each other’s.

“Not here, Jean, we’re at work.” Armin gasped for breath and his face was red. But despite the flustered look and the scowl he wore, he wished they weren’t at work so that the moment could last longer.

“Quit breaking my heart, angel.” Jean said with mock disappointment but he smirked. When he pulled away, the blonde Inspector took a step back. “Your kisses help clear up my hue.”

“Are you alright, though?” Armin asked as he met Jean’s eyes when the enforcer pulled back to give him some breathing space but he still held him. “Are the new meds working?”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t really make any difference.” Jean shrugged and caressed the small of Armin’s back affectionately. Like all enforcers, Jean had a level of ruthlessness in him and he also had a bright mind to go with that sharp tongue of his. But when it was just the two of them, Jean can show the real man behind the enforcer. “I say, you’re more effective.”

“Flirt.” Armin rolled his eyes but allowed himself to trace his fingers on the rough stubble on Jean’s chiselled jaw.

“Stuck up.” Jean smirked back and attempted to lean for another kiss again but Armin shook his head.

“No, Jean, you had your three minutes.” He said, soft but stern. “We have a meeting.” He glanced at his bracelet again; four and a half minutes left now.

“Aw, come on.” The taller man said in mock disappointment. “What happened to the ‘Yes, Jean!’ in bed last night?”

“Jean!” Armin protested in shock and embarrassment of the dirty trick. “I said; not here! We really need to get a move on!”

“Okay, okay!” A deep baritone chuckle which sparked up warmth in Armin’s chest. “Lemme show you that short cut.”

“Finally, thank you!”

“You can thank me tonight.” Jean winked with a sincere yet playful grin and in that moment, the darkness he wallowed in disappeared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UP NEXT...
> 
> Mikasa’s tablet beeped in alarm as Ymir’s readings started to rise. “Sir, we should stop.”  
> Erwin gave a single, strict nod and pressed the glass surface of his communication bracelet to connect with the signal on Levi’s and Armin’s earpieces.  
> “That’s enough.” The Senior Inspector said with curt authority. “This is all the proof we need. Pull out.”  
> Taking the command, Armin smiled kindly at Ymir. “Thank you for your cooperation, it was very helpful. You may go and we’ll update you soon if ever we find anything about Historia.”  
> “Please find her.” It was a plea from the bodyguard. The look in her eyes were desperate and her voice quivered a bit but that was it.  
> “We’ll do our best.” Levi replied this time, his tone was cold but it wasn’t unkind. However, he did not promise anything. 
> 
> Chapter III: Minds Like Murky Water


	3. Minds Like Murky Water

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mind is like a canvass. Some minds are like simple pastels while some are a beautiful chaos of color.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, my fellow latent criminals! <3 (Wait, where did that come from?) It's been a hard week for me so far, but I'll be alright, hopefully.  
> Anyway, I'm back with this week's Dolly update. This explores what goes on in the minds of the characters and shows more of their personalities and a unique glimpse in their minds. 
> 
> So this is it for now. Please feel free to let me know your thought about this chapter and/or the story so far! I'll see you in the next update!

**Chapter III**

**Minds Like Murky Water**

“Helloooo! Come in, come right in!” Hanji waved in Eren and Levi who were the final ones to enter the room on the last minute mark. Hanji Zoe was a latent criminal with the crime coefficient of 156.3 Being a licenced doctor who specialized in pathology, the stress from the cases she handled as coroner had irreversibly clouded her hue. Sibyl revoked her accreditation and made her choose between working for the MWPSB or spending the rest of her life in an isolation facility. Of course, Hanji wanted to continue her practice.

“Make yourselves comfortable. Tea? Cookies?” She offered, her brown eyes bright behind the fogged up lenses of her glasses.

“Uh,” Eren smiled awkwardly. “Nah, I’m cool. Sir?” he turned to ask Levi who leaned against the back of the couch rest instead of taking a seat.

“If there’s something you can do to accommodate me,” Levi began dryly as he eyed the overly excited doctor who sat behind of the large workstation and multiple screens on the wall. “You can wipe your filthy glasses. It’s making me uncomfortable.”

“Aw, grumpy as usual, aren’t we, Levi?” Hanji swivelled on her chair to face the complex groups of buttons and controls in front of her. “Anyway, let’s get this show on the road. Mr. Smith?”

Erwin stood with poise and authority beside Hanji who pulled up the files to be shown. His intelligent granite blue eyes studied his team.

“As forwarded to your data systems,” Erwin began. “The youngest daughter of the Reiss family has been missing for several days now. Historia Reiss, established model and designer, and celebrity.” Erwin paused to glance at the picture of Historia Hanji pulled up on the screen. “She hasn’t responded to any calls from her family and friends for two weeks now.”

“Two weeks,” Mikasa muttered while her fingers mindlessly twiddled with the crimson scarf she always wore. “That’s about the time of the annual Rose Runway to showcase the spring collections.”

“You really know your stuff, eh, Mikasa?” Eren tilted his head to the side as he addressed the raven haired beauty of the team.

“Problem, Eren?” Mikasa asked calmly but there was small challenging smile on her lips.

“It was a compliment.” The green eyed enforcer chuckled. “Don’t go beating me in a dark alley now.”

“You’re no fun.”

“I just contacted the organizer of the event.” Erwin interrupted the friendly banter. He was used to such things especially when it was Jean and Eren who argued, but his people knew when to be professional when the need arises. “They were cooperative enough to send the footages from the security cameras back stage. Hanji, if you please?”

“Rolling the footage!” the doctor gleefully clicked on a button on her keyboard. Several smaller windows popped up on the big screen and played simultaneously. Everyone watched attentively as they studied the videos while trying to spot out anything out of place.

Levi pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his jacket packet and tapped it twice until one end of a stick popped out. Placing it between his lips, he lit it with a lighter Jean pulled out automatically from his pocket. Handing the lighter back to Jean, Levi pushed himself off from where he leaned against the couch and made his way towards the large screen.

“Wait,” Levi blew out a puff of smoke and pulled the cigarette off his lips in between two fingers. “Look at the PA there, she’s acting weird.”

Hanji immediately paused the video and zoomed in on the short black haired girl carrying a tablet but she seem to be lingering a lot near Historia’s dressing room.

“She’s also present in almost every frame where Historia is.” Armin observed as he habitually pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Let’s take that into account.”

“Wait, she’s famous, right?” Jean spoke up this time as he crossed his leg, connecting his right ankle to his left knee from where he sat on the couch. “How come her bodyguards didn’t do their job well?”

“Ah,” Hanji pulled up a second picture beside Historia’s. It was a tanned woman with dark brown hair pulled up into a high pony tail and freckles on the bridge of her nose and her cheeks. “We can start by asking her. The name’s Ymir and she’s been Historia’s personal bodyguard for about three years now.”

“Let’s bring her in, then.” Erwin agreed and turned to watch the members of the division he led. “Armin and Levi, you two do the interrogation.”

Armin just smiled in agreement while Levi shook his head hopelessly.

“Let’s get this over with.” The Enforcer muttered while he killed the flame on his cigarette when it neared the filter. “Historia Reiss’s time is running out unless she’s already dead.”

~

Just like the picture suggested, Ymir was a tall and lean woman with tanned skin and freckles on her face. She had an irritated scowl that pulled down the corners of her mouth and her expression was sour as she studied the blonde inspector and the short, grim eyed Enforcer who loomed behind the first man, hands casually resting in his pants pockets.

“Ms. Ymir, I’m Junior Inspector Armin Arlert and this is Enforcer Levi. Would you like some water before we begin?” the blonde began but Ymir interrupted him before he could proceed.

“No.” Her scowl deepened. She knew that the friendly front was an attempt to make her loosen up and calm her down so her hue wouldn’t get clouded. “Have you found Historia?”

“Well, that’s the reason we brought you in.” Armin replied calmly while he folded his hands over each other on the surface of the table the two of them sat on. “As her bodyguard, you are tasked to be near Ms. Reiss at all times.” His sky blue eyed turned serious. “However, based on the footage submitted to us by the coordinators of the fashion show two weeks ago, you weren’t anywhere near Ms. Reiss’s dressing room or herself for the whole duration. What is that?”

Ymir lowered his eyes, not wanting to meet the sharp sapphire blue ones that silently watched her from the intimidating man who stood behind the Inspector. She knew that the large mirror attached to the one side of the wall was a reflective one way window where she guessed they were being watched from another room.

True enough, the rest of Division 10 were watching them with unwavering attention with Erwin directly in front of the glass, his hard blue eyes observing Ymir like a hawk.

“Look, I totally understand that I’m suspect number one since I’m the one who’s supposed to be by her side all the time.” Ymir clenched her hands into tight fists until her knuckles turned white. “But you’re wrong. I have nothing to do with her disappearance.”

“Could you prove that?” Levi was direct to the point. Being a former Inspector who had fallen past the 100 point mark which marked him as a latent criminal, he brought his priceless experience along from his years in the force even when he was demoted to an Enforcer.

“She…” Ymir began, her voice shook for a moment before she reigned herself together. “She pushed me away. Historia ordered me to keep my distance and she basically shut me out when I got too protective.”

With that statement, Levi understood that there was more between Ymir and Historia than just a professional relationship. Armin, having caught on with where the conversation was going, asked;

“And when did all of this begin?”

Ymir kept quiet for a moment. “It started when a PA named Annie Leondhart started to get friendly with her.” From behind the one way mirrored window, Erwin narrowed his eyes. “After that, it’s like Historia changed. She spent more time with that woman and got all close with her.”

“See that?” Jean muttered to Eren who stood beside him in the observation room. He noted out the point he saw. “It’s jealousy.”

“Powerful stuff there.” Eren commented back, his arms were crossed over his chest. The cuffs of his dress shirt folded and pushed up to his elbows. “In most cases, it’s motive.”

“You the jealous type, Jeager?” Jean smirked and kept his voice low so that it was only Eren who heard him. “Bet you gave Levi a piece of your mind when he gets offered special attention from others.”

A soft scoff. “Me?” Eren quirked an eye brow. “Nah, man. I’m not the jealous type. Believe or not, that calm and composed bastard over there’s the jelly kind. Do you even want to know what Levi put me through when Mina from Division 7 asked me out to watch a damn movie _as friends_?”

“Okay, keep your freaky stories to yourself.” Jean backed away in an instant. At first glance, Levi was a respected man who kept neat. But he possessed the highest crime coefficient among the Division 10 Enforcers and those digits always had their side effects personality wise.

Dark and sexy things, that’s what. It made Eren’s core hurt pleasantly for days and his body was covered with Levi’s love marks.

“Bet you are, though.” Eren chuckled lowly between the two of them.

“Bingo.” Jean grinned as he eyed the blonde Inspector on the other side of the one way mirror. Armin was his drug and he was the only damn good thing in the shit hole that is Jean’s world. Jean’s overprotectiveness is a result of his traumatizing past which broke his Psycho Pass. He lost someone dear to him back then and hell, he almost took his life from it. But on the final hour when he decided to pull out his existence from the world, Armin walked into his life, literally, and talked him out of it. Long story short, that was how Jean became the latest addition to Division 10.

The two Enforcers continued to watch Ymir who went on to narrate what she knew; “Then one day, Historia told me to drop her off to Annie’s place because she was going to look at the dress Annie designed.”

“So, this Annie is an aspiring fashion designer?” Armin prompted as he noted down the observation.

“I don’t know. Historia sent me away before I could see and then just texted that she was already home late that night so I didn’t pick her back up.” Ymir shrugged, but the breaths she took were shaky.

In the observation room on the other side of the glass, Mikasa held a tablet which did a scan of Ymir’s Psycho Pass and right now, her hue wasn’t looking to well while her crime coefficient was flicking back and forth between 80 and 82 in decimals.

Levi took a few steps towards the table and slid a physical photo of the woman known as Annie Leondhart for Ymir to see; black hair that was obviously dyed and laced with a streak of icy blue, cold blue eyes, and a morose distant expression on her face. “Is this the one you’re talking about?”

And as he predicted, Ymir’s stilled while her beady eyes turned into dark fire with anger.

Mikasa’s tablet beeped in alarm as Ymir’s readings started to rise. “Sir, we should stop.”

Erwin gave a single, strict nod and pressed the glass surface of his communication bracelet to connect with the signal on Levi’s and Armin’s earpieces.

“That’s enough.” The Senior Inspector said with curt authority. “This is all the proof we need. Pull out.”

Taking the command, Armin smiled kindly at Ymir. “Thank you for your cooperation, it was very helpful. You may go and we’ll update you soon if ever we find anything about Historia.”

“Please find her.” It was a plea from the bodyguard. The look in her eyes were desperate and her voice quivered a bit but that was it.

“We’ll do our best.” Levi replied this time, his tone was cold but it wasn’t unkind. However, he did not promise anything.

~

“What do we have on this Annie person?” Erwin asked Hanji as the team regrouped in the lab after a lunch break.

Hanji pulled up the file on the person in question, however the image that appeared was that of a blonde and blue eyed woman but with the same cold expression on her face.

“Annie Leondhart,” the doctor began. “Lost her father in a car accident when she was five. Got passed around the foster care system until she inherited their house when she turned legal.” With a click, other information about Annie’s past schools and affiliations appeared. “After that, she found a job as a PA in the fashion industry.”

“And her Psycho Pass reading?” Eren asked this time. Being a latent criminal, he knew that being passed around in foster care sometimes clouded the developing hues of children when they chance on not so loving families.

With a few more clicks on the keyboard, the readings Eren asked for appeared on the screen including all the times her hue had been read by street scanners and initial medical exam results.

Golden brown eyes flashed and Jean got up to his feet from being seated on the couch beside Armin.

“Wait a fucking minute,” he said as he lowered the cigarette he as puffing on while he glared at the results on the screen. “Look at this.” He pointed at the multi-colored bar which showed Annie’s hue readings. “It shifts from clear to clouded then to clear again in a span of minutes.”

“Such an inconsistency isn’t possible.” Mikasa interrupted when she picked up what Jean was talking about. “Sibyl should have been alerted by this.”

“But it wasn’t because as long as her hue is in an acceptable level of cloudiness,” Jean angled his head and locked his gaze with Mikasa’s aloof obsidian ones. “Sibyl won’t bother her. Annie’s throwing off the scans with a masking device to hide her real hue.”

“You’re really familiar with masking devices, are you, Jean?” Erwin asked with interest. Armin on the other hand, watched silently and listened in anticipation.

“I used them in the past.” Jean smiled bitterly. “Threw off scans but in the end, I got caught.” He glanced at Armin who stared at him from the revelation. “Made me what I am today.”

“An asshole?” Eren drawled and Jean responded by flipping him the bird which made the green eyed Enforcer laugh.

Levi walked to one of the controls on the table and typed in a code to display the residence address of their next suspect and images of a fairly big house filled the screen.

“What the fuck…” Eren muttered. “That’s a big house for just one person.”

“Too judgemental, Eren.” Armin sighed. “But you’re right in a sense. I’ll arrange a warrant to have the place checked out in case Ms. Leondhart refuses to talk. She’s suspicious enough as it is.”

“Very well.” Erwin agreed with Armin’s plan but they still had to take legal and careful steps so that they wouldn’t overstep any boundaries. “In the worst case scenario,” his voice became grim. “We’ll use the Dominators.”

When the team broke off late that night, only three people were left in Division 10’s office. Armin was gathering his things into his satchel while Levi, being the usual insomniac workaholic he is which rooted from his Inspector days, was still making a report about the other cases that were on their plate. Since Eren didn’t have anything else up for that night, he idly rocked back and forth on his chair while he stared at the ceiling with his headphones wrapped around his head. His fingers strummed back and forth while he mimicked playing a guitar to match the music he was listening to.

“Levi, I’m turning in for the night.” Armin kept his voice low so that he doesn’t startle Levi from what he was doing. He left his workstation to approach the other man. “I’m going to head home and get some sleep. What about you?”

“What’s sleep?” Levi threw back the question with dry sarcasm but he didn’t look at Armin as he continued to type. “Is it a new cleaning product?”

Armin rolled his eyes and made a face. Levi might be cold and unapproachable, but once you get to know the Enforcer, he was actually _kind of_ nice in his own way. “Alright, don’t drop dead from exhaustion. See you tomorrow.”

“’Kay.” Came the simple reply along with the clacking of keys but at least Levi, glanced up briefly at Armin to meet his eyes in acknowledgement before he turned his attention back to his work.

He waved in a gesture of good night at Eren who was still occupied with listening to music which Armin knew was a form of escape from the negativity in his mind and helped him maintain his Psycho Pass. His best friend grinned and waved good night before Armin closed the office door with a soft click.

And once the room was left to themselves, Levi stopped typing while Eren removed his headphones and paused the music on his phone.

“So, brat.” Levi drawled which made Eren smirk at his lover. “Your place or mine?”

~

“What happened to the suave flirt hitting on me on the roof earlier today?” Armin broke the silence which stretched between him and Jean while they stood in the elevator. They headed to the residence floors of the MWPSB complex to Jean’s living quarters for some late dinner. Jean offered to cook since he was pretty good at it but Armin insisted that he helped him. It was these little things they did together when they were off duty that reminded them that past their ranks in their line of work, they were a couple in love.

“He’s thinking.” Jean replied with a smile but his eyes were serious and tired. He reached to run his fingers through the golden strands of Armin’s hair. “Is the quiet bothering you, angel?”

“A bit.” Armin admitted with a concerned frown while his bright blue eyes studied Jean. “You’re okay, right?”

“Yeah.” A deep chuckle when Jean leaned down to place a quick kiss on the golden crown of Armin’s hair. “Jesus fuck, Armin. Chill, will ‘ya?”

“I am.” The blonde gulped at the affectionate gesture the Enforcer gave. Their relationship was a secret, but the two of them were already sure that the whole of Division 10 already found it obvious just like how Eren and Levi’s relationship was. Relationships among co workers were discouraged especially between an Inspector and an Enforcer, but it happens a lot.

Of course, at their own risk.

“You really shouldn’t worry that much about me.” Jean teased with a wink. “Can’t have that golden hair of yours turning white before you even reach thirty.”

“It’s my hair, I’ll do what I want with it.” Armin gave a small ‘hmpf’ sound which Jean found adorable. “Let me worry about you once in a while.”

“Are you saying that as my superior or my boyfriend?” Jean asked with a sly smile. He got his answer when Armin rolled his eyes in irritation but his cheeks were red.

“What are you thinking?” Armin asked to change the subject, habitually rubbing his cheeks to try and supress the pink which tinted his creamy cheeks. The elevator dinged and they stepped out before they started walking to Jean’s unit.

“Just the Reiss case.” Jean shrugged, his eyes turning grim as the twin golden brown orbs stared ahead on the decorated hallway. “Annie’s house, specifically.”

“What about her house?”

Stopping in the middle of the hallway, Armin halted as well. “Jean?”

“I was just thinking about the space to occupant ratio.” Came the reply. “If I was in Annie’s place, that house is the perfect size to hide a number of bodies.” An eerie and alien light flashed in those golden brown eyes which reminded Armin that Jean was still a latent criminal. That this man who held Armin’s heartstrings through his clever fingers was the one with the most unstable Psycho Pass in the team despite the one having the lowest crime coefficient after Hanji and Mikasa respectively.

Levi was a honed blade, Eren was trigger happy loose bullet while Mikasa was a trained rifle. Jean, however, was a bomb waiting to be set off. It would only take one calculated trigger for him to go off which would make his crime coefficient skyrocket past the point of no return in the eyes of Sibyl.

“Now,” Jean finally turned to look at Armin. “Whether dead or alive would depend on my sanity.”

Cold sweat trickled down Armin’s spine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up Next... 
> 
> Levi didn’t move when the younger Enforcer reached up to brush away a few strands of hair that had escaped that soft jet black silk that was neatly combed back. 
> 
> “If something bad happens and Jean crosses the point of no return,” Eren gritted out and Levi saw green fire flicker within those beautiful emerald eyes. “I’ll shoot him with the Dominator myself.” 
> 
> Chapter IV: The Perfect Doll


	4. The Perfect Doll

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Thank you very much for all the kudos and comments from the previous chapter! I hope you guys are having a great day/night! Here's another chapter for you and even I'm excited that Division 10 is making their move. AND JEAN. OMG JEAN. CHILL, BABY, YOU GOTTA CHILL.  
> Feel free to comment your thoughts about this chapter and/or the story so far! I'll see you guys in the next update!

**CHAPTER IV**

**The Perfect Doll**

“Eloise,” Annie crouched in front the quivering petite blonde. Historia tried to squeeze herself as far as her small body could fit into the corner of the room she was held in. Her limbs were filled with cuts and scrapes from trying to fight back, but Annie was just too strong for her despite the insane woman’s small physical build. “I brought you some food.”

Historia barely ate and being stuck in this hell for two weeks had made her skin pasty and so thin that her bones had begun to cut through. What she didn’t understand was why Annie kept calling her Eloise. She didn’t say anything and merely glared at Annie. There was no way of escape from this place; the windows were welded shut, the ventilation locked, the doors barred, and there weren’t any devices for communication.

“Eat.” Annie’s voice was firm with the soft command but Historia shook her head stubbornly.

“Let me g—“ but before Historia could finish her sentence, Annie lifted her hand and slapped her on the cheek so hard that the corner of her lip cut through her teeth and bled. But the smaller blonde captive refused to give up and let such a thing faze her. She threw herself at Annie and tangled her fingers through the matted and badly dyed bunch.

Locking her hand around Historia’s slender throat, Annie choked her until the other woman gagged for breath and when she loosened her hold on the other’s hair, Annie used it a chance to pull out a pressure injector from her back pocket and stabbed it through the side of Historia’s neck. Pushing a button which released a tranquilizer solution in Historia’s bloodstream, the petite blonde’s eyes rolled back before she slumped, unconscious on the floor.

“You’ve become a bitch, Eloise.” Annie sneered while she glared at the fallen woman at her feet. “I guess you have to go.”

Bending down to bunch her fingers around Historia’s hair, she began to slowly drag her body down the small door which led to her ‘work room’. Unlocking by inputting the code on the lock, Annie hauled in and made her way to a walk in freezer where she kept her toys before she transformed them. She either kept the bodies there to keep them fresh after death or if they are still alive, like Historia, they would most likely die of hypothermia.

Throwing the woman inside, Annie frowned at the crumpled form on the floor of the freezer room. This woman just wouldn’t do because the perfect Eloise wouldn’t fight back. In addition that, she had recently realized that Historia didn’t really look like Eloise; there was something missing. Then the thought hit Annie so hard that she ended up face palming herself for forgetting.

It was Eloise’s eyes; the blueness of it which were the ones that entranced Annie as a child. They weren’t aquamarine like Historia’s…

They were sky blue.

~

Hanji stormed through the data on her screen early that morning. The steaming mug of coffee had stained the coaster it sat on the ‘beverage safe’ side of her workstation and she had already lost count on how many mugs she’s had since she sat down to work. Like Levi, Hanji was a workaholic but in contrast to Levi’s silence, Hanji actually discussed things with _herself_. It was an odd trait and many would even deem it to be insane, but Hanji considered it as a sign of genius to converse with one’s self.

“Annie… Annie… Annie…” the woman mumbled repeatedly while she stared the frowning blonde on the screen. “A strange girl you are.”

Erwin had pointed out the woman’s record was clean and yet Jean noticed that she was using masking devices. “And suspicious.”

With a couple more clicks, Hanji pulled up the files on Annie Leondhart’s past affiliations again. Digging a bit deeper, she pulled out other files like the class roster the suspect was a part of and she noticed something.

“Oh. Shit.” She thrust her fingers through the messy brown pony tail she sported. “Oh. Hoooolyyyy shiiiit.” Pulling a call window, she immediately hit Erwin on speed dial.

“Smith.” Came the crisp yet husky reply after a few rings. In this hour of the morning, Erwin was probably just getting out of bed. “What’s wrong, Hanji?”

“Erwin!” Hanji exclaimed a little bit too loudly. “Get your goddamned ass over here right this moment and bring the others. I got a lead on Leondhart!”

“Well then,” Erwin replied after the information sunk on his half awake brain. “Good morning to you too.”

~

“It’s seven in the fucking morning.” Eren walked through the door with a yawn followed by a grim eyed Levi who looked pissed for being bothered on his day off, but since this was a lead case, he had to put that aside and show up.

“Someone better be dead or I will stab you in the eyes, shitty glasses.” Levi grimaced when Hanji grinned brightly at him.

“Top of the mornin’, Levi!” she laughed gleefully. “I’m sorry to bother you on your day off, but this is pretty huge. We can’t let it pass!”

“Where’s asshorse and Armin?” Eren asked, looking around. But when Erwin was about to answer, Armin burst through the door all wide eyed and alert followed by a yawning Jean.

“I heard that, Jeager.” Jean growled when he plopped down on the couch. “You’re lucky I haven’t had my coffee yet else I’ll shove your pretty green eyes in your big mouth.”

“Now that you’ve had your friendly banter.” Erwin breathed out a sigh while he massaged his temples. “Let’s proceed.”

“What have you found, Hanji?” Armin asked eagerly. He made his way towards the holographic projection Hanji put up.

“Tell me, what do you see?” Hanji threw back the question just as eagerly at Armin while she waved her arms around towards the screen to emphasize. “All these… what do you notice?”

“These are her past schools.” Armin began. He observed the student rosters Hanji pulled out next and one name per roster blinked in red. “Each school she went to has a victim tagged as a missing person.”

“Common denominator, people.” Erwin prompted when he caught where the observation was going. “Those names; Petra from senior high and Nanaba from college were in the same class as Annie.”

“Right!” Hanji’s eyes then became serious. “These cases were never solved since they never caught Petra’s killer after her body was found while Nanaba was never heard from again. No body either.”

“Okay,” Levi slowly said slowly. “But how are you sure that it’s not just a coincidence?”

“Because of this additional case.” Hanji replied, voice low. She quickly typed in a code and pulled up the file on Annie’s workplace. Then a photo of a beautiful smiling woman with platinum blonde hair and pale eyes appeared.

“Hitch Dreyse.” Mikasa spoke for the first time. “She was a model who disappeared after recently debuting in the Autumn Runway to showcase the new Blood Orange line by the designer Felicia Noir.”

“Damn, girl.” Jean whistled, amazed at his teammate. “You’re like a walking data bank for fashion.”

“For someone who wears all black and a red scarf most of the time.” Eren teased but Mikasa just stared at him blankly.

“Going back,” Hanji continued. “This is the list of personal assistants who are assigned under Hitch Dreyse.” With a click, she highlighted a familiar name.

“Annie Leondhart worked for her.” Armin muttered in disbelief while he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Dear God, Annie has some kind of connection to all these missing people.”

“Coincidence?” Hanji’s eyebrows shot up when her eyes widened in excitement. “I think not, my good people! I think not at all!”

“And now Historia Reiss who models for the same agency is missing.” Erwin narrowed his eyes. Everything finally made sense and Ymir’s statements had made sense. “But why _these_ people? What do they have that made Annie take them?”

“Hanji, could you lay out the images of the victims?” Jean finally got up to his feet and stood at his full six foot one height. His golden brown gaze went from Petra, Nanaba, Hitch, and finally, Historia.

“Shit.” It came out hard. “There’s a pattern. She’s some classic serial killer following a trend in her victims.”

“Well, fuck.” Eren gritted while he glared at the screen, finally picking up on Jean’s conclusion. “You’re right. Blonde hair and pale eyes.”

“This is the quality that attracts her to her victims.” Erwin concluded. “We have to get near enough to scan her crime coefficient with the Dominator to confirm this. However,” a pause as he glanced at his team. “There’s the matter about her masking device. We won’t get a good read if she wears it.”

A heavy silence filled the room. They had to come up with a plan to get a clear reading on Annie to confirm their suspicions without their target noticing and bolting to escape. If this trail went cold and they failed to get Historia Reiss back, not only would it stain the image of the MWPSB and Division 10, it would also allow Annie to walk away and continue whatever sick activities she does to her victims.

“I have a plan.” Armin finally spoke up and six pairs of eyes all turned to look at him. His own gaze then settled on the golden brown ones which belonged to that one special person. “And it’s not going to be pretty.”

The Junior Inspector relayed his plan to the team and went into a step by step process in explaining what must be done as well as fail safe alternatives and such other instructions. Surely enough, even if they didn’t like Armin’s plan, it was the only effective way they have right now to get this Annie person.

However, Mikasa, being the most stable of the Enforcers for having the lowest crime coefficient, was empathic despite her cold and aloof disposition. She was aware of how tightly knit their team was, the low key relationships, the frenemies, and such.

While Armin continued to lay out his plan, Mikasa subtly tapped on her multi-bracelet and faced the lens surface of the glass towards Jean who leaned against a desk with his arms crossed over his chest while his eyes downright glared at Armin.

And just as Mikasa predicted, Jean’s hue had started to cloud up from what Armin was about to do.

~

“Are you fucking insane?” Eren demanded when he appeared on the doorway of the hallway pantry. He had followed his best friend the moment that the meeting broke up. “That’s got to be the most brilliant and recklessly stupid plan for this.” He sighed in frustration and scratched the back of his head, further messing up the dark brown locks.

“I…I honestly am not sure whether to feel insulted or honored.” Armin gave a confused smile. “But Erwin approved and we’re going to carry this out in two hours.”

“Look,” Eren’s voice dropped and his green eyes turned serious. “You’re walking right into that psycho’s arms if you continue. Acting as bait is dangerous, I’m sure you don’t need to be genius to know that. What if you get killed?”

With his own eyes losing their sky blue light, Armin replied; “We’re not even sure I’ll make the cut, Eren. Sure, I fit her patterns of victims, but remember that she might be picky. Besides, all I need to do is get close to her after Jean’s identified the masking device. I’ll get the reading after I find a way to remove it from her.” The blonde sighed. “And if it means helping us find Historia Reiss, then it’s worth a shot going with her if ever she tries to lure me off.”

Silence filled the pantry while Armin focused on pushing the buttons on the coffee machine while Eren twiddled with a piece of napkin which he attempted to make into a pathetic excuse of origami.

“Mikasa told me that Jean’s hue became clouded while you were explaining.” The Enforcer said. “Look, man, you do understand that you’re like…his anchor, right?”

“Like how you and Levi are to each other?” Armin smiled warmly at his best friend. Eren on the other hand, tore his gaze away as if to deny a fact that was already so obvious. “I know, that, Eren.” A sad pause. “I know Jean is most likely mad at me, but this assignment is given to Division 10 and I’m the only one who fits to be the decoy.”

“Bro, come on…”

“Excuse me, Jeager.” Armin stilled when Jean’s voice broke through the air like a whip. “May I have a moment with Armin?”

With a sigh, the green eyed enforcer shrugged and pushed off from the counter he leaned on. “’Kay, I’m going to go get ready.”

But as Eren turned to leave the pantry, he passed by Jean and he whispered to the other man in a low growl so that Armin wouldn’t hear;

“A single tear from him and I’ll make you bleed from your eyes.” A soft yet dark threat. “So watch it, asshorse.”

“You’re getting creative, Jeagershit.” Jean smiled tightly. Without another word from the other Enforcer, Eren left the two alone.

Armin heard his heart thump when the knob clicked shut and it was like the skin of his back was being flayed as he felt Jean’s eyes on him.

“You can’t persuade me.” He beat Jean to the point. Having known Jean for years and being in a relationship with him for another year and a half, he knew the man well like the back of his hand. “It’s our job.”

“Doesn’t mean you have to gamble with your damn life for it.” Jean’s voice was rough like sandpaper. He walked through the distance that separated them and came to a stand-still behind Armin. Jean placed his hands on the shorter man’s shoulder and slowly turned Armin around to face him. “Erwin can do it.”

“That idea is flawed.” Armin replied, lowering his gaze because he was unable to hold the golden brown ones that held him on the spot with burning intensity. “First of all, Erwin doesn’t look a tad bit helpless. It needs to be him who would lead you and the others to carry out what must be done.”

“Helpless.” The word was bitter as it left Jean’s lips. His other hand gently pulled aside one of the collar lapels of Armin’s polo shirt to expose a darkened love mark Jean had sucked on while their bodies were engaged in a passionate dance of lovers the night before.

“Armin, that’s bullshit, you and I both know that you’re not helpless. Didn’t you just put Eren on his ass when you sparred last week?” the tone held a subtle tone of awe, pride, even. Even if Armin wasn’t physically strong, he was nimble on his feet but his greatest asset was that brilliant mind of his.

“That’s not my point.” Armin smiled sadly. He reached up to gently remove Jean’s hand from him. “I look the part. I fit her victim profile.”

“I won’t let you become bait!” Jean argued with a frustrated huff of breath. “We---“

“JEAN.” The Enforcer halted when Armin’s voice hardened but it was calm. He stilled when those sky blue eyes pinned him on the spot and he didn’t dare to move when Armin reached up and caressed his fingers lovingly on the rough stubble that connected to Jean’s faint sideburns. “I decided to play along as bait because I trust that all of you can get me out.” A gentle smile from the blonde while he slid up his hands to lock around Jean’s nape.

Standing on his toes to match Jean’s height all the while pulling down the taller man towards him, Armin pressed his forehead against Jean’s. “Especially _you,_ Jean. I trust you. I know you’ll get me out.”

Armin wasn’t able to say anymore when Jean’s lips crashed against his in a rough yet deep kiss which sent their hearts beating in a rhythm to match each other’s.

A silent promise to protect.

~

Levi pulled out his blue and gray collarless parka after he had methodically tied the thin black silk of his tie into a perfect knot. He noticed that Eren leaned against his locker, his form slumped and his eyes staring into the nothingness of the floor.

“You’re worried.” Levi stated, not a question at all. He closed his own locker and approached Eren, standing dangerously close to him.

“We’re playing with my best friend’s life.” Eren replied sourly. “Of course I’m worried.”

Silence.

“Hey, brat.”

“What?”

“What will you do in case the worst happens?” Levi dropped the question like a bomb and Eren’s emerald eyes snapped up to glare into his dark sapphire ones. “I know that I’ll affect your Psycho Pass but you and I both know that _someone’s_ more unstable than you.”

Eren’s crime coefficient was higher than Jean’s, but Jean’s digits had the tendency to skyrocket past the point of no return with just one calculated trigger. Because despite that tough shell he puts up, those who knew Jean’s story and how he became an Enforcer, had an idea of how fragile he really was from the trauma he experienced in the past.

Levi didn’t move when the younger Enforcer reached up to brush away a few strands of hair that had escaped the soft jet black silk that was neatly combed back.

“If something bad happens and Jean crosses the point of no return,” Eren gritted out and Levi saw green fire flicker within those beautiful emerald eyes. “I’ll shoot him with the Dominator myself.”

~

Having contacted the Management of the fashion agency, Erwin told them that they will be holding a brief sweep of the place because of a lead they have to track own Historia Reiss. He didn’t tell them that their actual suspect was one of their employees and Erwin had instructed his team to conceal their Dominators and disguise their attire with holographic clothes to match the PAs and models to avoid elevating the stress of the area due to the presence of Enforcers.

Four Enforcers stepped out of the MWPSB’s carrier vehicle as the two Inspectors got out of the police sedan they rode in. Having parked at a curb that was out of the view of the entrance of the agency’s building, they all gathered to brief the final plans.

“Any more questions?” Erwin prompted and when all he got were silent stares from his team, he nodded an affirmative that were wasn’t anything else. He lifted his comm-bracelet and pressed a command to authorize the distribution of the Dominators.

A black automatic cart rolled out from the carrier van and made its way to the members of Division 10 and having inputted Erwin’s authentication, the top parted in the middle and discharged seven Dominators.

Armin wrapped his fingers firmly around the handle of the gun in front of him and the moment he did, his comm-bracelet lit up and the he heard Sibyl’s voice in his mind;

_“Activating Dominator Portable Psychological Diagnosis and Suppression System. User authentication: Inspector Armin Arlert, Public Safety Bureau, Criminal Investigation Department. Dominator usage approved. You are valid user.”_

He pulled out the Dominator and holstered the weapon on a hidden strap at small of his back and activated his holo costume; a casual polo shirt and pants along with some running shoes and a headset around his head.

“Are we all set?” Armin asked as he eyed his team who hid their Dominators and activated their disguises. His gaze finally settled on the Enforcer dressed like a maintenance staff. When they all nodded, Erwin turned spoke this time;

“Two teams: Jean and Mikasa, you go with Armin. Identify the masking device and deactivate it as soon as possible but don’t take any enforcement action yet.”

Mikasa nodded, dressed like a make up artist with straps of brushes around her waist and a dark apron with several pockets to hold other commodities. Her eyes met Armin’s; “Just get your bracelet near enough the device and I’ll do the rest.”

Armin nodded.

He paused to look at Eren and Levi who were dressed like a senior assistant and surprisingly, a model-designer, respectively. “You two reel Annie in to Armin then come meet me and secure the building in case Annie finds out and bolts. If we are forced to deliver enforcement action, we’ll head to her house and sweep the place as soon as possible.”

Without another word, Erwin turned his back to them and faced the building where their prey hid. “Let’s move.”

~

It was just another regular and boring day for Annie. She wordlessly did what she was ask, occasionally stopping for a drink of water or maybe a can of cold coffee. While she made her way down the hallway while pushing a wheeled mannequin that was requested by one of the models to hold her dress, Annie saw some unfamiliar faces and one of them approached her. He was a short man but he was clean shaven and handsome with jet black hair that was smoothed back. His eyes were sharp and were the color of the ocean and he had a lean built while he donned a crisp white dress shirt, a black cravat pinned with a sapphire brooch which matched his eyes and his dark felt suit jacket was draped over his shoulders.

“Pardon me. I’m Rivaille and I’m scheduled to meet with Madame Felicia Noir.” He said and Annie noticed a slight accent in his words, French maybe? “Where is dressing room 26B?” he glanced at his companions, a tall young assistant and blonde young man which obviously caught Annie’s attention.

“Down the hall to the right, sir.” Annie replied without looking at the man anymore. Her attention was diverted to the frail looking intern whose headset appeared to be too big for his head. But that didn’t matter because as the blonde stared back at her, Annie felt a vein in her head twitch while she drank into those bright eyes behind black rimmed glasses.

Sky blue.

Come to think of it, Annie didn’t have a male doll yet and with this intern bearing a powerful resemblance to that shitty doll, she decided that he’ll be the _first._

“Thank you.” Rivaille looked sardonically at the blonde. “This is our intern…ah…What was your name again Arnold?”

“A-Armin, sir Rivaille.” The blonde replied timidly, clutching the tablet to his chest as his light blue eyes met with dark ones.

“Yes, that.” The model scowled before he returned his attention to Annie. “And you?”

“Annie.”

This time, the brunette spoke up, studying her with emerald eyes. “Miss Annie, since Mr. Rivaille would be in the city today while he is working on an outfit with Madame Noir, would you please orient Armin with how things are here? We won’t stay long, just for a few days while they are working on the project.”

“Yeah, sure.” Annie replied, feeling like she hit the lottery for being asked to baby sit the intern. But a few days? She realized that she had to work fast or she’ll lose this Armin from her grasps.

“Maybe you’ll be more useful if you learn a thing or two.” Rivaille’s tone was cold and stuck up as he glared at Armin who lowered his gaze in embarrassment. “Now, go prove the shit you wrote in your resume or consider this your last trip as my staff.” The man then whirled back, the flaps of his coat flying off while his other assistant glared at Armin disapprovingly before he followed Rivaille down the hall.

“You okay?” Annie asked Armin who lifted those sky blue eyes to look deep into her icy one. “You’re obviously fresh meat.”

“Uh, yeah.” Armin nodded, having mustered a small smile. Ah, so docile and innocent…so pure… so corruptible.  “I like this job in general but I guess this is how it’s going to be for a while at the bottom of the food chain.”

“It usually is.” Annie turned around and continued to push the mannequin that she was asked to deliver. She made her pace slow so that Armin could catch up while he looked around the place. “But you’ll get around to it. Trust me, stay long enough and you’ll be a shark chewing up noobs.”

A shy laugh. “I don’t know. I don’t see myself being all mean but I guess I’ll pick up the habit, huh?” Armin’s steps matched Annie’s and he studied the woman. “You’re a veteran here?”

“Not really.” The woman shrugged. “A year and a half. Two if you don’t count my six months of internship.”

As they reached an intersection, Annie suddenly halted. “Hey, Armin?” she said.

 **“Angel, it’s the ring.”** Jean’s voice filled in Armin’s headset. The Enforcer was hidden somewhere in the wide hallway with Mikasa who was handling the techwork. **“Get your comm-bracelet near enough so Mikasa can fry the signal.”**

“Hm?” the intern looked up from scanning something on his tablet. “Yes?”

“Just stick with me and I’ll teach you everything you know.” A chill ran down Armin’s spine when Annie’s lips lifted into a small smile but her eyes were distant…empty. Of course, putting up the innocent front, Armin acted grateful.

“Thank you!” he beamed and grabbed Annie’s hand before he shook it vigorously. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! You’re awfully nice, Annie. I thought you’d chew me up like Rivaille and Eren do. I promise I’ll do my best!”

In that brief moment, Armin caught a quick red flash on the surface of his bracelet while he slowly let go of Annie’s hand.

Mikasa did it.

“Eren?” That’s the name of that midget’s assistant?”

Armin nodded eagerly while Annie took in those angelic features of his and her heart raced in excitement at the thought of her first male doll.

The perfect doll.

“Alright.” Annie’s expression was calm while she still wore that serene but cold smile on her lips. “Tell you what, as a welcome, let’s go get some coffee? My treat. Tell Joe the barista guy to put it on my tab. I’ll tell you the tricks of the trade.” A pause while she admired the blueness behind those stupid looking glasses. “I bet Rivaille will be amazed.”

“Sure!” Armin smiled with excitement. “Thank you again, Annie!”

“Yeah, sure, whatever.” The woman shrugged. After that, Annie pointed to the right of the intersection. “That’s the PA lounge room. You can ask the others where the designated work rooms are for the models and designers on site. See you this afternoon.”

Armin stood still while he watched the woman’s retreating form down the left side of the intersection she headed into.

Hidden in a stock room, Mikasa gave Jean the thumbs up after she typed in a command which disabled the signal on Annie’s masking device via Armin’s comm-bracelet. And in that moment, Jean drew out his Dominator;

_“User Authentication: Enforcer Jean Kirschtein.”_

 When he pointed it on Annie’s retreating form, his golden brown eyes flashed blue from within as Sibyl spoke its judgement to him;

 _“Crime Coefficient: 322.”_ The weapon then shifted in Jean’s gasp to its destructive form. _“Enforcement Mode: Lethal Eliminator.”_

When the Dominator shifted, Mikasa quickly connected with other members of the team. “322. She took the bait. Armin’s going with her this afternoon.”

“You're not fooling anyone,” Jean muttered under his breath while he watched Annie disappear at a curb. Armin was going to walk into the hands of a serial killer and there was nothing he can do about it without sacrificing Historia and compromising the plan. “You bitch.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up next...
> 
> Suddenly, a soft giggle escaped from Annie and a cold chill slid down Armin’s spine as the woman turned to lock those cold blue eyes into his sky blue ones. “Oh, Armin...” She cooed as she reached into her pocket. “You’re wrong. You’re pretty and you’re perfect.” Her thumb flicked off the cap of the pressure injector filled with cyanide solution. “And you’re mine.”
> 
> Chapter V: Gone. Gone. Gone.


	5. Gone. Gone. Gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEEEEY! :D I'm back with an update! I love the flash back in here and i decided to put it for some fluff. Thank you for all the love and support... the kudos and comments you guys left for the previous chapter and the story itself.
> 
> Please feel free to express your thoughts about this chapter and/or he story so far! See you guys in the finale!

**Chapter V**

**Gone. Gone. Gone.**

The smell of freshly brewed coffee filled the lively café where Armin waited for Annie. He focused on the single pastry on the saucer in front of him and Armin just couldn’t find the appetite to even take a bite because he was nervous. He glanced at his comm-bracelet and checked to make sure that his hue hasn’t become too clouded; he sighed in relief that it was still in the norm.

Armin knew that his team was close by, monitoring him. He was also aware that the skin on his back was being flayed by a pair of golden brown eyes that watched him like a hawk. Making sure that there wasn’t any sign of Annie yet, Armin opened up the message box hologram from his bracelet and sent a text to Mikasa who was probably the most reasonable person to ask the question he had.

He didn’t trust Erwin enough to give him a straight answer and Eren would only rant at him. Levi would be sarcastic and Hanji was offsite, cozy in her lab while offering tech support to the team. And of course, Jean was out of the question.

After typing a quick message to Mikasa, Armin fired up the message;

**‘How’s Jean’s hue?’**

Seconds later, her reply came;

**‘Cloudy but stable. PP: 175.2’**

So it’s raised to two decimals. Deciding not to reply, Armin lowered his bracelet and stared at his pastry again like he expected it to move. He wondered if he should send a message to Jean to assure him but let the idea go. His heart thumped against his chest when he remembered the deep and intense kiss they shared in the pantry earlier that morning.

And as if right on queue, Armin’s bracelet beeped and he quickly opened the message to glance the single line of text that came from Jean;

**‘I’m here. Don’t worry.’**

A shaky breath escaped from his lips and that was how Armin realized that he wasn’t just nervous, he was _scared._

Suddenly, the raven haired, icy eyed PA entered the café and Armin felt his insides churn in his stomach but he had to calm himself down or else he’ll appear obvious and ruin the operation. The moment Annie spotted him, she gave a small wave in greeting but did not smile before she made her way towards his table.

From under the table, Armin quickly typed in a code into the message box and sent it to Jean;

**‘1224’**

“Hey,” Annie sat on the chair in front of Armin who looked up and beamed brightly in expectation. “Sorry for the wait. Something came up and unfortunately, our coffee is cancelled.”

“Oh?” Armin’s eyes widened and Annie stared at them in awe. “Why?”

“That Eren guy told me that Rivaille and Madam Noir are doing an impromptu shoot.” Annie’s face was blank but Armin immediately knew that she was lying because Eren and Levi doing something ridiculous like that was out of the plan. “He asked me to pick you up and we’re driving to the site of the shoot.”

“Oh, wow.” Armin gaped to make it look believable. “I guess Rivaille is really starting to make a name for himself, huh?”

“I’ve actually never heard of him.” Annie frowned slightly and the blonde retaliated with a lie;

“He started not too long ago.” He shrugged. “He’s from a small town in France.”

“Is that so? What town?”

Before sweat beaded on Armin’s forehead, he just said; “We can talk about my boss later. He doesn’t like tardiness and we’ll be in trouble if we don’t go to the site right now.” Armin then stood up hastily. “He’s terrifying when he’s angry.”

The woman studied Armin with those cold blue eyes of hers and for a moment there, Armin thought that his lies were caught but Annie just nodded;

“Let’s go.”

Oh, what luck. Bagging this guy was easier than she expected.

~

**‘1224’**

Jean stared at the digits that flashed in the small holo message box that projected from the lens of his comm-bracelet. He consciously chewed on his bottom lip at the secret meaning of the message. It stood for December 24 which, cliché as it may be, the Christmas eve Jean downright spilled it to Armin how he truly felt about him.

_‘I’m not for bullshit TV dramas at all, but there’s no better way to say this.’ Jean had said, his breath fogging up over his face from the deathly cold weather while Armin stared, dumbfounded. ‘I’m in love with you. Take it or leave it.’_

_Not knowing how to respond, Armin dropped on the snowy ground of the park and waved with limbs up and down._

_‘L-Look, Jean, a snow a-a-angel!’ he grinned stupidly to the Enforcer’s dismay. For a moment there, he thought it was some ploy for Armin to get away and he felt a bit pissed that the blonde didn’t just say it to his face if he was rejecting him. But Jean had noticed that Armin’s face was red and the blonde couldn’t look at him straight in the eye while his lower lip quivered adorably._

_With a smirk, Jean knelt on the snow beside Armin and grabbed the blonde’s coat collar before he hauled him up. Their breaths fogged up between them and their faced were just inches apart._

_‘Angel’ Jean said. ‘I like it. I think I’ll call you that if you’d let me.’_

_‘Jean…’ Armin whispered, his sky blue eyes were wide and bright, his cheek flushed, and his lips were red from the cold._

_‘Take it or leave it, Armin.’ Jean repeated with downright seriousness and Armin lowered those fine pale lashes of his that fanned over his beautiful eyes. ‘Give the truth straight to me. I don’t like bullshit.’_

_‘I’ll take it.’ Armin replied, his voice was gentle and breathless. He reached up to caress the tips of his fingers down the rough 5 o’clock shadow on Jean’s jaw. ‘I said that I’ll never get involved with a co-worker…’_

_Jean stiffened, that small hopeful smile of his getting wiped off from his roguishly handsome face. But Armin continued;_

_‘But here I am,” Sky blue locked with golden brown. ‘Feeling the same as you.’_

_There was nothing more but silence as Jean pulled Armin towards him in a rough but warm kiss which had been their first._

1224 was their secret code for  _I love you._

“They’re leaving.” Mikasa lowered the spy binoculars from her eyes from where they hid from a curb not far from the café.

Levi tweaked a small knob from the headset he was wearing to listen in the conversation through the small microphone disguised as a button on Armin’s clothes.

“Sneaky bitch.” Levi muttered and Erwin looked over to where the former Inspector was.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Seems like Annie came up with a ploy to get Armin to leave with her.” Levi replied and Jean crossed his arms over his chest as he listened. “She said that I sent Eren to fetch him and head to a site were I’m supposedly having a photo shoot.”

Just like they hoped, Annie bit the bait and she was about to make Armin into one of her victims. Their only problem now was whether their target would take Armin where she’s hiding Historia Reiss as well.

“This is it.” Erwin gritted out as he watched Armin get into Annie’s car which was parked in front of the café. “We’re almost there.”

Jean on the other hand, was silently fuming in anger and worry.

~

Armin could hear the blood drumming through his ears and his heart hammered wildly against the wall of his chest. Soft punk rock played on Annie’s car radio and the woman looked so calm while they drove away from the café. When Armin glanced at the side view mirror, he caught a glimpse of an ice cream truck and a silver sedan two cars from them and he knew that it was the MWPSB vehicles disguised as such.

“Don’t tell me you’re nervous.” Annie suddenly broke the silence. The Inspector felt like he slipped and fell off a cliff at the sudden fear that engulfed him. Armin might be a professional, but he wasn’t perfect. Signs are bound to show and it would take a real predator like Annie to catch the hint of fear in the air.

“I’m just worried that I might not meet Rivaille’s expectations.” Armin gulped. “I really want to show him that I’m better than the shitty greenhorn he thinks I am.”

“Is that so?” Annie’s voice was awfully flat and the car came to a smooth halt on a red light.

Glancing at the side view mirror, Armin was desperate for the sight of the ice cream truck and the silver sedan caught up in the traffic behind them. “Yeah. I guess… I have a long way to go. I admit that I’m not perfect, no one is.”

Suddenly, a soft giggle escaped from Annie and a cold chill slid down Armin’s spine as the woman turned to lock those cold blue eyes into his sky blue ones. “Oh, Armin...” She cooed as she reached into her pocket. “You’re wrong. You’re pretty and you’re perfect.” Her thumb flicked off the cap of the pressure injector filled with cyanide solution. “And you’re _mine._ ”

Before Armin realized what Annie held, the woman took one careful and calculated jab and stabbed the needle into the other blonde’s neck. When she pushed the button to dispense the poison, Armin grabbed Annie’s wrist to try and pry it off but the solution had already rushed through his veins and his eyes rolled up.

“J-Je…” He choked on his breath before he slumped against the car seat, motionless.

With a sigh of relief, Annie pulled out the syringe and recapped it before she placed it back into her pocket.

The light turned green.

Driving cautiously so that she wouldn’t get pulled over, Annie made her back to her house. She would have to stuff this dead body in the freezer to keep in fresh while she prepared her workstation. Historia was probably already dead from profound hypothermia.

“That bitch can wait, I want my first male doll.” Annie stepped on the breaks suddenly when she almost hit a person on a pedestrian lane who shook his fist angrily at her but she knew that he couldn’t see her due to the fact that her car was heavenly tinted. The moment that the car skidded to a stop, Armin’s unconscious body shot forward and came in close to slamming against the dashboard if the seatbelt held him back.

He moaned.

Annie froze.

“SHIT.” Annie gritted and read the label on the pressure injector vial; **TRANQ.**

“God fucking dammit.” She cursed angrily as she started to drive again. The steering wheel became slippery because nervous sweat coated her palms and she mentally cursed her doll, Eloise. She knew that she had to hurry home and tie down Armin before the tranq wore off. She stepped on the gas some more but made sure not to break the speed limit and as she took the exit fly over to her place, she spotted something sticking out from underneath the back hem of Armin’s khaki vest.

A Dominator.

Rage filled Annie. All this time, this was a trap and she was playing a stupid game with the police.

She pressed a button on her steering wheel when she arrived before the large iron gates of the estate left in her name and they parted before she drove in the pathway to the house. Taking out a separate remote from her pocket, she pressed another button which activated the clever traps she had set around the house.

The police wanted to play?

Well then, Annie will give them a game they’ll never forget.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up next...
> 
> All he can do right now is hope that they find Historia before her body succumbs from hypothermia. But what about him? Historia was priority where the mission was concerned. But what about Armin? Did they consider him too?
> 
> Did they abandon him? 
> 
> They wouldn’t, right? Jean wouldn’t…
> 
> Right?
> 
> THE FINALE. Chapter VI: Play Time Is Over


	6. Playtime Is Over

**Chapter VI**

**Playtime Is Over**

The team went on high alert when Annie’s vehicle didn’t take the highway exit to where she lied about the photo shoot was being held and instead, took the route which led to her house. It was a stupid and reckless move, but Erwin decided to take it with a grain of salt.

“I’m not going to assume she’s stupid.” Levi’s voice echoed from Erwin’s com-bracelet while the Enforcer was in the carrier vehicle that was following Erwin’s car from behind. “Someone who gets away with three or possibly four murders doesn’t exactly possess the intellect of a fish.”

“Creative.” Erwin commented dryly but Levi was right. If Annie was confident enough to take Armin directly to her home then it could be that there was more to it than meets the eye. Erwin believed in Levi; they had worked together prior to the man’s demotion. Their vehicles came to a stop on the block curve near Annie’s house and Erwin alighted from the car.

At the same time, the doors of the carrier vehicle automatically parted in the middle and a small ramp shifted from underneath and connected with the door.

Four Enforcers stepped out.

“What are your orders, boss?” Jean broke the silence and Erwin noticed that those golden brown eyes had turned even sharper. The light was devoid from them and the Senior Inspector knew that Jean was torn between getting the job done and saving Armin even if he had to get blood on his hands, literally.

“That would depend on Mikasa’s findings.” Erwin replied and turned to the female Enforcer to ask; “Anything, Ms. Ackerman?”

“I just sent in some bug drones.” Mikasa busily typed on a portable net book and soon, the data the drones gathered about the place started to file in. “There are several parts of the mansion that are rigged with traps.” A pause as she scrolled through the blueprints. “I can disable the electronic ones to lessen our trouble, but there’s nothing I can do about the manually placed ones.”

“We’ll rig them off the old fashioned way, then.” Jean suggested, his voice rough like sand paper.

“Do just that.” Erwin nodded an affirmative and faced the other Enforcers. “Now, listen up, I won’t say this again; We’ll split again into two teams. Eren, Mikasa, and I will find Historia Reiss.” His hard granite blue eyes sharp golden brown ones, and dark sapphire orbs briefly. “Levi and Jean, you find Armin.” A grim pause. “If you find Annie, take Sibyl’s judgement into account and shoot.”

“Thought you’d never ask.” Jean muttered but agreed regardless. He wouldn’t want to do anything else today but to get Armin back into safety. No matter what, he will never break Armin’s trust in him to get him out of harm’s way.

“If there isn’t anything else,” Erwin finally said. “Then let’s move. Time’s running out.”

They pulled out their Dominators from the cart and once they were authenticated in the system, they began the operation. After Mikasa disabled the controls on the gate, the iron bars parted slightly in the middle just enough for them to slip through without making a scene. Eren, Erwin and Mikasa took the right wing of the mansion while Levi and Jean took the left.

“Hey, Kirschtein.” Levi said after a long moment of silence, the two of them pressed against a shadowed corner of the hallway to avoid detection once inside the mansion.

“What?” Jean’s voice was gruff from long minutes of unuse and he glanced at the other Enforcer, his eyes locking with a pair of dark sapphire ones.

“Keep your shit together.” Levi warned. “If I can help it, I wouldn’t want to shoot you with that unstable Psycho Pass of yours.”

“That’s awfully kind of you.” A bitter smile and Levi coldly tore his gaze away from Jean’s as he looked down the empty hallway for any signs of a trap. He then spotted one; a classic trip wire and Jean saw it as well when he followed the direction of those deep blue eyes.

“I’m just saving myself from the trouble.”

“Trouble from what?”

“If you fail to keep yourself in check,” Levi said as he took an expensive looking porcelain plate displayed on a stand by a vase of fake flowers, he took a careful aim and threw the plate like a Frisbee. Like a charm, it hit the wire and two rifle nozzles slid out of the ceiling before gunfire filled the empty house. The hidden automatic rifles emptied their magazines on the spot of the trip wire that would instantly kill any intruder.

“Whoah.” Jean breathed out and Levi continued, unimpressed by the tacky choice traps. This Annie wasn’t very creative.

“I’m not a guy who likes to give advice,” he said. “But I’ll give you an unsolicited one right now. Eren won’t hesitate to shoot you if you lose control of that fucking troublesome Psycho Pass of yours if it would mean that he can protect Armin and the team.”

Jean gulped at the revelation but he understood. Ever since the traumatic event which led to his Psycho Pass being degraded, his depression and lack of care for himself has made him reckless… unafraid of what he might do. Jean had already accepted the fact that he can get himself killed anytime and he had even reached a point back then when he’d just do it himself and get his name off Death’s to-do list already.

But when he met Armin, he suddenly wanted to live. Wanted to experience life. Wanted to start again. And with being an Enforcer that only choice he had left, he gladly took it. However, it came with a price and that was his unstable digits.

“Oh, yeah?” Jean asked, his eyes boring deep into the other Enforcer’s form. “Then why the sudden change?”

“Because killing you would affect Eren’s Psycho Pass.” Levi replied. “If you die, it would break Armin and in turn, Eren.” A pause from the enigmatic man who was the first person who ever paralyzed him when the MWPSB hauled him in. “And I…want to save him from that.”

Even if Levi wouldn’t broadcast it, it was obvious that he’d rather have his own Psycho Pass rise than Eren’s. But even with the low profile they kept, their actions had made their relationship clear.

“Man to man, Kirschtein,” Levi finally said. “I know you’d do the same for Armin if the tables are turned the opposite way. So don’t lose it.”

Gripping the handle of the Dominator, Jean readied himself to make his way through the hallway and to the door at the end.

“I’m not going to lose it, Levi.” Jean assured with a grin. “Sibyl will take me away if that happens.

“Good.” Levi readied himself as well, the Dominator in his hand. The two Enforcers then made their way forward.

The system improved safety and well-being but it was cruel and Jean knew that the whole country was in its mercy. Jean can’t afford to lose what he has now because even if it wasn’t the best job in the world, it’s what had given his dead end life a purpose. It was what gave him Armin and this awesome Division that was the closest he had to family and he wasn’t about to let that be taken away from him.

~

Armin was awoken by the sound childish giggling. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the light, but when they did, he found himself strapped on the cold slab of an operating table.

“So you’re awake, Inspector.” Annie’s cold voice sliced through the air like a cold, merciless whip. Armin turned his head to the direction of the voice, a cold chill ran down his spine when he saw Annie leaning her head comfortable on the shoulder of another woman. She was beautiful; with pale silvery brown eyes and her hair was a platinum blonde curtain of curls that curved around her porcelain face. She wore a midnight blue ball gown with a promiscuous slit on the right side which granted a peek of her smooth, shapely legs. Her feet were clad in black sequined pumps and her hands were covered with matching half arm silk gloves.

But it was her expression that was off; her dead eyes bore into Armin’s and her lips were pulled up into an eerie, permanent serene smile.

Hitch Dreyse.

She’s dead.

“The police sure is sneaky, Hitch.” Annie whispered closely into Hitch’s ear but obviously, the dead human doll made no response. Instead, it continued to stare unblinkingly at Armin, smiling. “It’s dangerous to be playing with toys like these.” Annie then reached behind her and pulled out Armin’s Dominator to show him.

As per protocol, the weapon was locked because Annie wasn’t an authorized user. Pulling on his leather restraints, Armin hissed; “Let me go!”

“You don’t think I’d give in that easily, do you?” the blonde woman scoffed and lifted her head from the human doll’s shoulder. She lifted the Dominator and aimed it at Armin before she pulled the trigger, but it was locked. “I don’t quite understand how Dominators work, but after tinkering with this thing, I found it quite useless.”

She then threw the weapon at the corner of the room where it landed next to another beautifully preserved doll but she wasn’t as well done as Hitch. The woman was dressed in a custom made private school uniform and she was holding a book in her hands. Her hair was pale and cropped short like a boy’s and she sported two metal stud earrings on the lobes of her ears. Her eyes were pale and her skin was papery. She was standing; a metal bar protruded from her back which was attached to a slot on the floor.

Like Hitch, she had a permanent smile on her face and her eyes were glazed with death.

“Is that, Nanaba?” Armin asked shakily, his heart pounded the wall of his chest. “How could you… Why would you do this?”

“Ah, so you’ve done your research.” Annie finally got up to her feet after she placed a feathery light peck on Hitch’s lips and turned her back to Armin. Sweat trickled down his forehead when he heard the slaps of latex gloves being worn. “I hate pretty things, you see.” Annie explained when she turned to face the bound Armin again, her eyes had that crazy look in them. “Because of a doll, my daddy is dead.”

A smile that didn’t reach her cold eyes. “But I just can’t get over my love for dolls. So I combined the two and started my…collection.” Walking to the operating table where the blonde was strapped on, Annie picked up a scalpel from the tray and studied its sharpness against the light above the table. The blade gleamed dangerously.

“I was going to do Historia first,” Annie admitted. “But I just can’t contain my excitement to work on you, so her frozen body can wait.”

“She’s dead?” Armin whispered, horrified. They were too late.

“Hopefully.” The insane woman shrugged. “I threw her in the freezer while she was unconscious this morning. Maybe she’s dead now.”

So, there’s still hope. Without any form of communication, Armin can’t tell his team mates what he had just found out. All he can do right now is hope that they find Historia before her body succumbs from hypothermia. But what about him? Historia was priority where the mission was concerned, but what about Armin? Did they consider him too?

Did they abandon him?

They wouldn’t, right? Jean wouldn’t…

Right?

Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted with the sound of gunfire somewhere in the house.

“Oops,” the smile on Annie’s face became malicious. “Looks like someone stepped on a trap. They’re probably dead. Those are carbine rifles, after all.”

“They’re not!” Armin shot back. “They’re not helpless!”

“Oh, you mean they’re not like _you_?” the woman asked and Armin fell silent. Annie knew that her mind trick was somehow getting through. In a desperate situation like this, she was the predator and Armin was her prey. No matter how steady headed someone is, they always lose it in times of hopeless desperation.

“I’m not helpless.” Armin hissed angrily. He was a trained Inspector and he had team mates who watched his back… He had Jean.

“Then why are you trapped here if you weren’t incompetent?” Annie’s voice was cold and they sliced through Armin like a blade. “Why are you so dependent on your team mates? You can’t do anything but hide behind your Enforcers while ordering them to their deaths.”

“I…I don’t…!” Armin protested and his hue started to cloud up. He wasn’t the kind to back off especially when someone else is at stake, but now that he was in the mercy of a serial killer, just how will his own humanity save him? Or would he have to rip that off just to survive?

“Shh…shhh….” Annie cooed and lowered the scalpel to hover above the artery on Armin’s neck where she planned to slit the vital vein and watch as her victim bled to death. “Just close your eyes and relax. It will hurt but after that, I promise you peace.” Lightly, she pressed the blade against Armin’s skin, drawing blood. “You’ll never have to worry about feeling weak and insignificant again. I promise to take care of you.”

With a spine chilling smile that only a mad woman could ever possess, Annie said before she slit Armin’s throat. “You’re never leaving me again, Eloise.”

Armin screamed.

~

“Can you disable those cameras?” Eren asked, his back pressed against the wall and his Dominator in hand. He eyed the automatic sensor cameras at the ceiling of the spacious garage.

“I’m working on it.” Mikasa muttered and her eyes narrowed as she glared at the screen of the mini netbook. Her fingers typed furiously trying to get through and hack into the camera’s system.

“Well?” Erwin prompted when Mikasa heaved a sigh.

“It’s no use.” The woman replied. “These cameras are purchased from the black market, they’re wired differently.”

“Heh, then we’ll do it differently too.” Eren grinned menacingly and stepped into the open where the cameras spotted him.

“Eren, wait!” Erwin exclaimed but it was too late. The camera’s lenses blinked red when they locked on Eren and the silence of the garage was broken with the sound of a revving engine. The headlights of Annie’s car glared brightly at Eren before the tires squealed and the auto pilot control made the car run towards Eren to run him over. With the limited space in the garage, dodging would be difficult but this was Eren Jeager of Division 10 and their Enforcers were infamously known for being a little bit too extreme.

“What the hell are you doing?” Mikasa demanded but before she got off her feet, the car shot towards Eren who didn’t look fazed at all. Instead, he grinned menacingly and lifted his Dominator to aim it at the car heading towards him.

 **‘User authentication: Enforcer Eren Jeager.’** Sibyl spoke clearly in Eren’s mind and the weapon shifted in his hand, expanding to its said form. **‘Enforcement mode: Destroy Decomposer. Target will be completely annihilated. Please proceed with maximum caution.’**

“Maximum caution ain’t fun.” Without a second thought, Eren pulled the trigger and then a bright blue beam shot from the Dominator, hurdling straight towards the car’s hood, making it explode. Eren took a single side step and the burning car skidded past him, the air and force making his brunette locks and the hem of his hoodie dance in the hot wind. The car crashed on the wall and broke through the house.

“We can take that instead of the door.” Eren turned around and smirked at his companions, his green eyes a blaze.

“Eren, do you always have to show off so recklessly?!” Erwin demanded angrily before he ran his hand down his handsome face in utter frustration and sighed. “Never mind, we’ll talk about this later. Let’s find Historia.”

The green eyed Enforcer shrugged, carefree, and went on his way.

When Mikasa passed by his side, she whispered lowly to Eren; “I’m telling Levi.”

“Please don’t.” Eren’s proud smirk fell as he scampered after Mikasa and Erwin like a little kid. “Come on, Mimi, I’ll buy you dinner tonight!”

“For the whole week.”

“Done! Just don’t tell him!”

Erwin just rolled his eyes. He loves this Division, but sometimes, they’re a pain in the ass.

~

Historia’s vision was failing, or was it just dark? One thing she was sure of, however, was that she can’t move her body anymore. It was cold and she was numb.

She wanted to call out for help but she couldn’t even move her lips that had gone blue. She wanted to bang on the door to call for attention, but her arms had gone slack. Historia knew that she was going to die but she cannot come into terms with it. She still had her whole life ahead of her and she was going to die in this meat freezer.

Then she heard voices on the other side of the metal door but Historia wasn’t sure if she was just imagining it. Did it even matter? Maybe the angels are coming to get her.

“Lock bomb set.” A female voice said. “Stand back.”

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

A small explosion burst through the darkness of the meat freezer and the lock came undone.

“Eren, on my mark, let’s kick it down.” A deep voice came and a bright light burst before Historia’s eyes as the door was kicked open and three silhouettes stood in the light.

“There she is!” this voice sounded younger than the first male voice. “Your scan was point on, Mikasa!”

“Thanks.”

“Call in the medic droids!” The first man ordered and Historia felt herself being carried up before she felt a soft press on the pulse on her neck. “She’s alive!”

“Droids are coming in.” the woman said. “Her hue is cloudy and her crime coefficient is up to 105. She might still be saved by therapy.”

“Alright but the mission isn’t over yet. We still have to find Armin.” A pause from the deeper voice. “Let’s get Ms. Reiss out of here, Mikasa. Eren, you find Levi and Jean.”

“On it.”

“’Kay.”

~

Jean heard Armin’s piercing scream from the end of the hall they were in and he ultimately felt his blood boil in anger. Gripping his Dominator, he rushed down the hall ahead of Levi but skidded to a stop when Levi barked angrily behind him;

“Get down!”

Reacting just in time, Jean ducked when a hound droid lounged at him from a hidden trap door where it was hidden. Jean guessed that since it was still functional, it was wired to an independent source that was why Mikasa wasn’t able to disabled it. He quickly grabbed a metal vase that was displayed and used it as a shield to when the hound snapped its jaw at him, its maw filled with sharp mechanical fangs.

“Son of a bitch.” Jean gritted angrily as he rolled out of the way when the hound lounged at him again. He then kicked up those long legs of his and the hound flipped upwards towards Levi. “Head’s up, Levi!”

Those sapphire eyes glowed a familiar blue from within their depths and Levi lifted to aim his Dominator at the incoming mech hound which had had reposition itself in mid air to bite through Levi’s neck. But the Enforcer was fast;

**‘Enforcement mode: Destroy Decomposer. ‘Target will be completely annihilated. Please proceed with maximum caution.’**

The hound was blasted into pieces when Levi fired the killing shot at the damned contraption.

“Go!” Levi forced out while bits and pieces of the destroyed mechanical hunting hound rained from where it was destroyed in mid air. If they wasted more time, who know what might happen to Armin. “Hurry, I’ll catch up!”

“Thanks! I owe you one!” Jean said no more as he dashed forward at the locked door at the end of the hall. His blood was boiling in anger and hearing Armin’s scream made him see red. He’ll shoot that bitch in the face and no one was going to stop him.

If Armin died under his watch, he would never forgive himself. Bitter memories flashed before his eyes about his past failure to protect what was his.

Marco called out for his name but he couldn’t even more from the spot he stood in out of fear and he helplessly watched as his first love burned to death in their dorm room that had caught fire. He still hated himself for it, he believed that he didn’t even deserve a second chance at life for his cowardice. But for some reason, he was given a second shot. And even if he couldn’t believe it, he fell in love again.

“Not on my watch.” Jean was nearing the door and he throttled his full weight forward while he built up the force in him to kick it down with all he’s got. “I’m not going to lose you, Armin.”

Jean was sick and tired of having the people he loved die on him.

He lost Marco…

He wasn’t going to lose Armin too.

There was a loud crash when Jean kicked down the door and he wasted no time the moment that his sharp golden brown eyes filled with rage and aimed his Dominator at Annie when he saw Armin strapped down on a metal operating table.

“No!” Jean cried out in desperation and anger when he caught sight of blood on Armin’s neck. The weapon shifted in his hands while he saw Annie’s true colors;

**_“Crime Coefficient: 322. Enforcement Mode: Lethal Eliminator.”_ **

“Jean’s she’s got a gun!” Armin’s voice broke through his wild bloodlust and Jean was barely able to dodge the hot lead bullet that had lodged itself on the door’s wooden frame. Annie fired from a small revolver pistol she had pulled out from the waistband of her jeans. With Armin forgotten, there was a wild, mad light in Annie’s cold blue eyes that spoke of a murderous desire. Jean rolled to the side and upturned a metal cart before he ducked behind it to use it as a shield.

Armin was wounded, the scalpel having sliced through the skin of his neck but it didn’t hit deep enough to damage anything vital, however, he was still bleeding like a busted pipe and he was losing blood. If he lost enough, he’d black out and he didn’t want that because he’d become even more dead weight for Jean and the others. He felt frustrated that he was tied down by thick leather straps and Annie’s words kept playing in his head.

_Helpless._

_Incompetent._

Weak. He was weak.

Think! Armin fought to shrug off the intrusive and discouraging thought in his head. He had to think of a way to give Jean the time to load the Dominator to shoot. He had to do something about Annie to distract her long enough or Jean will never get a chance. Then, as the raven haired psycho took a few steps towards the metal cart where Jean hid, an idea hit.

“Annie.” He croaked out gently despite the injury on his neck. This was bad, Armin’s vision was fading as Annie started to flicker before his eyes. If he fell unconscious he might die from too much blood loss if he’s not treated immediately.

The woman halted and turned around to look at Armin. He spoke again; “Annie. I’m sorry for hurting you all these years. I’m sorry that I left you alone.” A weak but gentle smile and Armin feigned a loving look in his eyes that made him feel disgusted in the inside but the psychological trick was working because Annie lowered the gun, but not completely. “I’ll never leave you again. So, maybe we can play?”

“E-loise…” Annie muttered, completely awestruck as if she really bought it. “You’ll never leave my side again?”

“I’ll be with you forever and ever.” Armin gave a weak nod, his eyes heavy lidded.

“Forever.” Annie smiled in agreement and she looked so genuinely happy that Armin felt terrible for her when Jean stealthily rose to his feet behind the fallen metal cart, his golden brown eyes glowing blue with Sibyl’s execution order and the Dominator in its deadliest form in his hand.

**’Enforcement mode: Lethal Eliminator.’**

Jean pulled the trigger.

Icy blue eyes going wide at what hit her, Armin closed his so that he didn’t have to see the way Annie’s body blew up where the beam hit before she exploded in a morbid show of blood and guts. He didn’t care either way when the warm blood splashed all over his bound body because he started to slip away into the darkness.

“Armin!” Jean dashed forward and was soon by Armin’s side. He dropped the Dominator and his fingers frantically scrambled on the leather straps to free the unconscious blond. “Stay with me! Die and I’ll never forgive you.”

“I know.” A soft and faint reply, those lips barely moving. Jean stilled to look at Armin, his heart pounding in fear against his chest. If he didn’t hurry, those words might be Armin’s last. Jean tried to supress the fear that he knew would make his Psycho Pass rapidly rise but it was difficult with blood leaking out of his lover’s neck.

“I’m glad… you came.” Armin’s breathing was shallow while his neck gash continued to bleed, staining the operating table a bright red. “One, two,…two,…four.”

“I love you too, angel.” Jean’s voice was thick and he managed to free Armin’s wrists but there was still those that were strapped around his ankles. “Armin, come on, keep talking…Stay with me!” But Armin didn’t say anything anymore.

“Well, _shit._ ” A rough voice sliced through the panic in his thoughts but Jean didn’t look up. The skin under the tips of his fingernails had already started to bruise and bleed from trying to undo the old, tough straps.

“Levi, help me!” Came the pleas from Jean and the other enforcer was quickly by his side, trying to undo the strap on Armin’s left ankle while Jean worked on the right. Just then, Eren came through the door with a first aid droid trolley following behind him like an obedient puppy.

Upon seeing the bloody sight before him, he cursed; “Son of a bitch, what the fuck happened here?!”

“Get over here with that thing!” Levi barked angrily as he and Jean freed Armin and Eren complied. Levi’s steady fingers worked on stopping the bleeding with a gauze and soon, Armin was hooked to a temporary IV drip that was connected to a blood bag.

“We need to get him to the hospital.” Levi finally sighed, wiping sweat off his brow. He then reached into the inner pocket of his parka and pulled out a handkerchief before he started wiping the blood from his hands like a madman. “Historia Reiss, Eren?”

“Safe.” Those emerald eyes locked with dark sapphire ones. “We found her in the freezer, barely alive. Erwin and Mikasa had gone with her to get medical and psychological attention but Armin’s just as bad as her.”

Jean was reduced to silence but Eren noticed that his form was quivering. Pulling up his wrist for his comm-bracelet, Eren ran a quick hue check on the other Enforcer and saw that his hue was clouded as fuck which meant that his Psycho Pass wasn’t doing so well.

Outside, while Armin was loaded into an ambulance via droid operated stretcher before being driven away, Eren broke the silence;

“Jean, mind if I check your digits?”

A slight shrug, his voice distant. “Be my guest.”

Pulling out his Dominator, Eren pointed it at Jean and saw that the other man’s Psycho Pass was up was flickering between 184 to 184.7.

From 175, Jean skyrocketed past Eren’s level in such a short time but it was obvious that he was trying to fight it back.

Lowering his Dominator, Eren sighed; “You want to know something you probably already know?”

Sharp golden brown eyes locked with his emerald ones in silent affirmation.

“I’ve known Armin since we were kids.” Eren said, putting the weapon back into its carrier while Levi wordlessly did the same before the aloof Enforcer left to give them some privacy. “And if there’s one thing he has in common with you, it’s that he’s stubborn. He doesn’t look much, but he’s one of the strongest people I know. He won’t keel over and die so pull yourself together, focus on lowering those digits, and have some damn faith.”

“Or what?” Jean asked darkly, considering what Levi told him before the executed the mission. “You’ll shoot me?”

“Worse.” Eren grinned to lighten up the mood and for some reason, his support did some help to calm Jean down. “I’ll revoke my approval of you dating my best friend AND THEN shoot you in the ass.”

Jean realised the Eren was right. Armin was in the mercy of professional hands now and Levi managed to stop the bleeding earlier. He’s safe and Jean pounded the idea into his head.

“You say a lot of shit, Jeager.”

“That’s because _you’re_ shit, asshorse.”

With hands already clean, Levi pulled out a pack of cigarettes before he placed one between his lips and lit the end. Puffing out some smoke, he listened to the friendly banter between the two younger Enforcers and glad that this shitty mission was over.

Nothing like a good smoke and seeing Eren’s smile at the end of a long day at work.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up next...
> 
> Epilogue


	7. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

The MWPSB spent the following week doing damage control. Historia Reiss was put under a therapy program to try and improve her Psycho Pass. It’s been working so far, but there was still internal damaged done to her and that was why after the main program was done, Historia will continue to see a professional. She still wasn’t fit to go back to work, but if all goes well, she’ll be strutting down the runway soon, as Mikasa had put it.

Armin had been recovering in the hospital. He was on the brink of death, but if it wasn’t for Levi’s quick first aid and the fast response of medical professionals, he could’ve died. The Chief of the MWPSB allowed him to take a month’s leave while he recovered both physically and psychologically. Lucky for Armin, he had a healthy Psycho Pass that seem to heal itself. In three weeks, he’ll be fully recovered to return for work.

While Armin is out of commission, Division 10 had taken a stand-in Junior Inspector in his place; a young recruit from Division 9 named Sasha Brause. While that was in the works, Division 10 had also kept a close eye on Jean, especially Eren, to make sure that his Psycho Pass doesn’t shoot up any higher as much as they could help it. From 175, the trauma of the last mission had raised Jean’s Psycho Pass to 184, surpassing Eren. After a few days out of commission so that he could see a professional and calm down, Jean’s Psycho Pass managed to lower but settled on 179 which made him stand toe-on-toe with Eren’s 180..

Senior Inspector Smith was nice enough not to bother Jean as much as possible on his days off so that he could be with Armin in the Hospital.

“Here’s fine?” Jean asked as he stepped on the lock of Armin’s wheelchair so that he doesn’t roll away. It was a sunny morning and the Enforcer had literally carried the blonde from his hospital bed and into a wheelchair so that they can go take a stroll in the spacious hospital gardens.

“Yeah.” Armin’s voice was still hoarse. There wasn’t any life threatening damaged done to him, but what almost claimed his life was the amount of blood he lost when Annie drove her scalpel into his neck. Jean sat down on the edge of the wooden bench which was beside the wheelchair. The wind was nice that morning and the leaves rustled in a rhythm which was rather calming.

Lounging back, Jean draped his long arms over the whide length of the bench’s back rest. It was his day off so he sported casual clothes; a band shirt underneath a black denim vest. Jeans, chucks, and he accessorized with a black leather wrist band adorned with a thin silver chain in the middle along with his standard issue comm-bracelet, and his undercut was freshly shaved but he left the hair on top of his head grown over the dark shade beneath. Of course, Armin wore a hospital gown underneath the robe that wrapped around his body and comfortable bunny slippers which Mikasa had dropped off the night before.

“I hope my stand-in isn’t hitting on you while I’m on leave.” Armin was the first to break the comfortable silence between them.

That statement made Jean burst out into laughter which was a deep, husky, and yet cheerful sound. Armin smiled, taking it all in until the feeling settled within him, warmth blooming in his chest from the sight of Jean smiling like that.

“What the fuck?” Jean asked and reached up to wipe tears from the corner of his eyes. “Sasha? Are you kidding me? She’s freakin’ annoying but Mikasa told me that she’s got the hots for another Inspector in Division 8.”

“You don’t mean…” Armin gasped softly from the gossip as much as his voice would allow him. “That bald guy, uh…what’s-his-name?”

“Connie Springer.” Jean replied with a stupid grin. “Short guy, goofy looking face?”

“Yeah, that guy!” Armin’s smile became small and he cast down those sky blue eyes. Suddenly, he felt Jean’s long fingers on his chin and they tilted his head up until he was forced to meet those sharp golden brown eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Jean asked with a frown. “Do you want to go back inside?”

But instead of answering Jean’s question, Armin’s eyes sheened with tears but none fell because he fought him back. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” The Enforcer’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Yes, I did!” Armin hissed and tore his eyes away from Jean’s gaze but he still let the other man shift his fingers from his chin to cup his face. “I was helpless! I didn’t do much to assist you! I’m… I’m useless!”

“Hey, don’t be too hard on yourself.” Jean’s tone was hard and resolute. “Tell me, who thought of the plan?”

“M-Me.” Armin choked.

“Who baited Annie?”

“Me.”

“Who distracted her to give me time to use the Dominator?”

“M-Me.” This time, tears fell from Armin’s eyes and soft sobs erupted from those soft, pink lips of his.

Jean’s tone gentled but he wore a smile. “And who do I love the most?”

“Desiree Devine?” Armin replied cautiously and Jean’s face turned red until the color reached the tisp of his ears in embarrassment.

“Porn stars don’t count, Armin!” He said defensively but Armin couldn’t help but notice that the edges of his lips were turned up into a grin. Then his tone mellowed down again after they two of them shared a good chuckle.

“But seriously, Armin.” Jean continued and his other hand lifted to cup Armin’s other cheek. He looked deep into those sky blue pools. “Who?”

“M-…” Armin wasn’t able to even answer when Jean leaned in to close the distance between them and pressed their lips together in a loving kiss. That nightmare of a mission they went through was a terrible one and in this line of profession, it won’t be the last one. But no matter what happens and whatever that may come their way, they’ll face it together.

Psycho Passes and work rankings aside, they are human. Love is human nature and no goddamn system can tell them otherwise.

 

 

**_The end?...We’ll see._**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that concludes my Jearmin tribute for Jean's birthday month! Thank you very much for all the love and support you have given this short story! And to address the ending words, MAYBE I might write a sequel to this, but then we'll have to see about that. For now, let's leave it at that tease :) 
> 
> Please let me know your thoughts about the story! Really, thank you very much! Long live Jearmin!! :D

**Author's Note:**

> UP NEXT...
> 
> “Not here, Jean, we’re at work.” Armin gasped for breath and his face was red. But despite the flustered look and the scowl he wore, he wished they weren’t at work so that the moment could last longer.
> 
> “Quit breaking my heart, angel.” Jean said with mock disappointment but he smirked. When he pulled away, the blonde Inspector took a step back. “Your kisses help clear up my hue.” 
> 
> CHAPTER II: Hounds and Shepherds

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [The Midnight Song](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8475541) by [AvenGrey73](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AvenGrey73/pseuds/AvenGrey73)




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